FIG. 282. BROMUS BRIZÆFORMIS.
BROMUS (from bromos, the Greek name for a wild oat). Ord. Gramineæ. B. brizæformis (see Fig. 282) is an elegant biennial grass, with drooping panicles of spikelets, about as large as those of Briza maxima. It grows about 2ft. high, and is of very easy culture in common garden soil. Sow seeds outside in patches, in July, thinning out the plants when necessary. There are numerous other species belonging to this genus, but the above-mentioned is the only one worth growing in gardens. It forms a beautiful object in the mixed border, or among ferns.
BRONGNIARTIA (in honour of Adolphe Brongniart, a distinguished botanist, and one of the editors of "Annales des Sciences Naturelles"). ORD. Leguminosæ. Handsome greenhouse evergreen sub-shrubs, clothed with silky villi. Flowers large, purple; pedicels twin, axillary, one-flowered. Leaves impari-pinnate, with many pairs of leaflets, the terminal one not remote from the rest. They require a compost of sandy loam, leaf soil, and fibry peat, with perfect drainage. Cuttings of the young shoots, if firm at the base, will root if dibbled in sand, under a bell glass, in a cool house.
B. podalyrioides (Podalyria-like).* fl. purple, large. September. l. with two to five pairs of leaflets; leaflets elliptic-oblong, rounded, and mucronate at the apex, clothed with adpressed hairs on both surfaces, but silky when young. h. 1ft. New Spain, 1827.
B. sericea (silky).* fl. purple. September. h. 1ft. l., leaflets ovate-oblong, acute, very silky on both surfaces. Mexico, 1843.
BROOK-LIME. See Veronica Beccabunga.
BROOM. See [Besom.]
BROOM. See Cytisus scoparius.
BROOM RAPE. See Orobanche.
BROOM, SPANISH. See Spartium junceum.
BROSIMUM (from brosimos, edible; fruit edible). Bread Nut. ORD. Urticaceæ. A genus of stove evergreen shrubs or trees, principally of economic value in their native countries. Male and female flowers generally in a globular head, but sometimes borne on separate trees; calyx and corolla wanting. Leaves entire. They generally thrive in a rich fibry loam. Cuttings of ripe wood, with their leaves on, root if placed in sand, in moist heat.