basella

[Malabar name.) Malabar Nightshade. A genus of plants belonging to the order Chenopod i aceæ (Chenopods). The species Basella alba and B. rubra are twining succulent plants, with smooth, fleshy leaves, used in China and India as spinach plants. B. rubra yields a very rich purple dye, which, however, is difficult to fix. 2. Arch. & Ord. Lang. The lower storey of a building, whether constituting a sunken storey or a ground floor. In ancient architecture the basement was generally low, and had above it a row of columns. It is still low in most churches and other public buildings, but high in private houses. B. As adjective: Lowest, outermost, most fundamental. "It consists, like the corresponding part of most other glands, of two layers, an outer basement membrane with which the ve els are in contact, and an epithelium lining the interior."-Todd & Bowman: Physiol. Anat . , vol. i, chap. xiv., p. 423.