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Any twining or climbing plant or stem, esp. a hop vine; a bine.

A plant of the genus Convolvulus; as, greater bindweed (C. Sepium); lesser bindweed (C. arvensis); the white, the blue, the Syrian, bindweed. The black bryony, or Tamus, is called black bindweed, and the Smilax aspera, rough bindweed. The fragile bindweed bells and bryony rings. Tennyson.

The winding or twining stem of a hop vine or other climbing plant.

Having two names; -- used of the system by which every animal and plant receives two names, the one indicating the genus, the other the species, to which it belongs. Binomial theorem (Alg.), the theorem which expresses the law of formation of any power of a binomial.

The branch of biology which deals with the geographical distribution of animals and plants. It includes both zoögeography and phytogeography. -- Bi`o*ge`o*graph"ic (#), a. -- Bi`o*ge`o*graph"ic*al*ly (#), adv.

to do with the origin, structure, development, function, and distribution of animals and plants.

An orchideous plant with matted roots, of the genus Neottia (N. nidus-avis.) Bird's-nest pudding, a pudding containing apples whose cores have been replaces by sugar. -- Yellow bird's nest, a plant, the Monotropa hypopitys.

A plant with a small bright flower, as the Adonis or pheasant's eye, the mealy primrose (Primula farinosa), and species of Veronica, Geranium, etc.

A papilionaceous plant, the Ornithopus, having a curved, cylindrical pod tipped with a short, clawlike point. Bird's-foot trefoil. (Bot.) (a) A genus of plants (Lotus) with clawlike pods. L. corniculatas, with yellow flowers, is very common in Great Britain.

An herbaceous plant (Trillium erectum), and its astringent rootstock, which is said to have medicinal properties.

A plant of the genus Mitella; miterwort. Longfellow.

An umbelliferous plant of the genus Ammi.

Wood betony (Stachys betonica); also, the plant called fennel flower (Nigella Damascena), or devil-in-a-bush.

An herbaceous plant of the genus Polygonum, section Bistorta; snakeweed; adderwort. Its root is used in medicine as an astringent.

r apple, Bitter cucumber, Bitter gourd. (Bot.) See Colocynth. -- Bitter cress (Bot.), a plant of the genus Cardamine, esp. C. amara. -- Bitter earth (Min.), tale earth; calcined magnesia. -- Bitter principles (Chem.), a class of substances, extracted from vegetable products, having strong bitter taste but with no sh…

A plant (Lewisia rediviva) allied to the purslane, but with fleshy, farinaceous roots, growing in the mountains of Idaho, Montana, etc. It gives the name to the Bitter Root mountains and river. The Indians call both the plant and the river Spæt'lum.

bing shrub, with oval coral-red berries (Solanum dulcamara); woody nightshade. The whole plant is poisonous, and has a taste at first sweetish and then bitter. The branches are the officinal dulcamara.

The fruit of several species of bramble (Rubus); also, the plant itself. Rubus fruticosus is the blackberry of England; R. villosus and R. Canadensis are the high blackberry and low blackberry of the United States. There are also other kinds.

of collecting natives of the islands near Queensland for service on the Queensland sugar plantations. [Australia]

The black sea bass (Centropristis atrarius) of the Atlantic coast. It is excellent food fish; -- locally called also black Harry.