BITTER ALMOND. See [Amygdalus communis amara.]
BITTER APPLE. See Cucumis Colocynthis.
BITTER-SWEET. See Solanum Dulcamara.
BITTER VETCH. See Orobus.
BITUMINOUS. Clammy, adhesive.
BIVONÆA (named after Antonio Bivona-Bernardi, a Sicilian botanist, author of "Sicularum Plantarum Centuria I. et II.," Palermo, 1806). ORD. Cruciferæ. A pretty little monotypic genus, well adapted for ornamenting rockwork or the front of flower borders. A dry sandy soil is most suitable for its culture. Propagated by seeds, sown in spring where the plants are intended to remain, thinning-out being necessary to ensure full growth.
B. lutea (yellow).* fl. yellow, small; racemes terminal, elongated as they grow; pedicels filiform, bractless. April. l. alternate, lower ones stalked, the rest sessile, cordate, stem-clasping at the base, ovate, toothed, bluntish. Stem filiform, sparingly branched. h. 3in. to 6in. Sicily, 1823. An annual.
BIXA (its South American name). Arnatto. ORD. Bixineæ. Stove evergreen trees, with dichotomous panicles of large reddish flowers, broad cordate leaves, and prickly capsules. A compost of loam and peat is well adapted to their culture. Propagated by seed, sown when ripe in bottom heat; or by cuttings, which root freely in sand, under a hand glass, in heat; the latter is the better method. If grown from seed, the trees attain a large size before they flower; whereas cuttings, taken from a flowering plant and struck, may be brought to flower when small plants.
B. Orellana (Orellana). fl. pale peach-coloured; corymbs terminal, panicled; peduncles two, three, and four-flowered. May to August. l. cordate, ovate, acuminated, entire or angular, smooth on both surfaces. The drug called Arnatto is prepared from the red pulp which covers the seed of this species. It is used in the preparation of chocolate, and by farmers for colouring cheese, and also as an orange or yellow dye for silks. h. 30ft. West Indian Islands, 1690. See Fig. 253. (B. M. 1456.)