BURSARIA (from bursa, a pouch; the capsules very much resemble those of the Shepherd's Purse). ORD. Pittosporaceæ. A handsome, much-branched, greenhouse evergreen shrub, forming a very pretty object when covered all over with its elegant white blossoms. It thrives well in a compost of sandy loam and peat, in equal proportions. Young cuttings will root freely in sand, under a bell glass, with a little bottom heat.
B. spinosa (thorny).* fl. white, small, disposed either in lateral or terminal panicles. July to December. l. small, oblong-cuneated, entire. h. 10ft. New Holland, 1793. (B. M. 1767.)
BURSERA (named after Joachim Burser, a disciple of Caspar Bauhin). ORD. [Burseraceæ.] Stove balsam-bearing trees. Flowers polygamous, or hermaphrodite; calyx small, four to six-toothed; petals four to six, spreading, generally valvate in æstivation; stamens eight to twelve; disk annular, with usually six to ten teeth; drupe oblong, covered by a three-valved succulent rind, containing three to five nuts. They thrive in a compost of loam and peat. Propagated by cuttings, placed under a glass, with bottom heat.
B. gummifera (gum-bearing). fl. whitish, hexandrous; racemes terminal and axillary. l. deciduous, usually impari-pinnate; leaflets ovate, acute, membranous. h. 60ft. West Indies, 1690.
B. serrata (serrate).* fl. whitish, decandrous; panicles axillary, shorter than the leaves. l. impari-pinnate, with three to five pairs of broad-lanceolate, bluntly-acuminated, serrulated leaflets; petioles and pedicels pubescent. h. 25ft. India, 1818.
BURSERACEÆ. An order of shrubs or trees, abounding in resinous juice; with opposite compound leaves, full of pellucid dots, and axillary and terminal fascicles of flowers. Fruit indehiscent, somewhat drupaceous. The genera best known are Amyris, Balsamodendron, Boswellia, Bursera, and Canarium.
BURTONIA (named after D. Burton, a plant collector for Kew Gardens). ORD. Leguminosæ. A genus of handsome greenhouse dwarf Heath-like shrubs, natives of West Australia. Flowers axillary, often thickly gathered at the ends of the branches; corollas rich purple; keel generally of a deeper colour, and the standard having sometimes a yellow blotch at its base. Leaves simple or trifoliolate, sessile, usually awl-shaped. They thrive well in a mixture of loam, peat, leaf soil, and sand, in equal proportions, with thorough drainage; but care must be taken not to give them too much water, as they require to be kept moderately dry, and are difficult to preserve in a living state. Young cuttings root freely in a pot of sandy soil, in a cool house, with a bell glass placed over them; but some of the species produce seed in abundance, which are the best means of increasing them.
B. conferta (cluster-flowered).* fl. violet. July. l. simple, very much crowded, six to eight lines long, linear-subulate, with revolute margins, and are, as well as the branches, smooth. h. 2ft. 1830. (B. R. 1600.)
B. minor (smaller). A synonym of Gompholobium minus.
B. pulchella (beautiful). A synonym of B. scabra.
B. scabra (rough).* fl. purple; peduncles axillary, bi-bracteate. April. l., leaflets glabrous, linear-mucronate. Branches puberulous. h. 2ft. 1846. SYN. B. pulchella. (B. M. 5000.)
B. villosa (villose). fl. purple, large; peduncles axillary, bi-bracteate. May. l., leaflets linear-subulate, bluntish, scabrid. h. 2ft. 1846. (B. M. 4410.)
BUSHEL. See Measures.
BUTCHER'S BROOM. See Ruscus aculeatus.
BUTEA (commemorative of John, Earl of Bute, once a munificent patron of botany). ORD. Leguminosæ. A genus of very ornamental stove evergreen unarmed trees. Racemes many-flowered; flowers three together, on short pedicels, and furnished with two bracteoles each, under the calyx; corolla deep scarlet; down on the calyces usually black and velvety. Leaves pinnately-trifoliate; leaflets large, ovate, roundish, stipellate. For culture, &c., see Erythrina.