BOMBAX (from bombax, one of the Greek names for cotton; the pods are filled with a fine silky substance like cotton, but which it is impossible to spin into thread, in consequence of the edges being perfectly smooth). Silk Cotton Tree. ORD. Malvaceæ. A genus of large soft-wooded stove trees. Flowers scarlet or white, large, usually rising laterally from the trunk or branches, either singly or in clusters. They grow best in a rich loamy soil. Cuttings, not too ripe, taken off at a joint, placed in sand under a bell glass, in moist heat, will root readily; but plants raised from seeds brought from their natural habitats make finer trees.
B. Ceiba (Ceiba). fl. pale red, large. l. palmate, with five leaflets. fr. turbinate, concave at the apex. h. 100ft. South America, 1692.
BOMBYX NEUSTRIA. See Lackey Moth.
BONA-NOX. See Ipomæa Bona-Nox.
BONAPARTEA. See Tillandsia.
BONAPARTEA JUNCEA. A synonym of Agave geminiflora.
BONATEA. (in honour of M. Bonato, a distinguished Italian botanist, and a Professor of Botany at Padua). ORD. Orchideæ. A handsome terrestrial stove orchid, allied to Habenaria, and requiring similar culture.
B. speciosa (showy).* fl. white, galeate; petals bipartite; raceme many-flowered, compact; bracts cucullate, acuminate. August. l. oblong, sub-undulate. Stem leafy. h. 2ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1820. (B. M. 2926; L. B. C. 284.)
BONGARDIA. (named after Heinrich Gustav Bongard, a German botanist). ORD. Berberideæ. A very pretty hardy tuberous-rooted perennial, requiring a sandy soil, and good drainage, with protection at all seasons from excessive wet, otherwise it will rot. It should be carefully planted in a compost of loam, peat, leaf soil, and sand, in equal proportions, and covered with a handlight.
B. Rauwolfii (Rauwolf's). fl. golden yellow, on pyramidal branched panicles; stamens and petals nearly equal in length. May. l. radical, pinnate; leaflets sessile, oval-oblong, three to five-cleft at the apex, glaucous, each with a dark purple blotch at the base. h. 6in. Syria, Persia, 1740. SYN. Leontice Chrysogonum. (B. M. 6244.)