Babery

Finery to please a babe. Babia'na, n. ( Bot.) A genus of Cape plants, order Iridaceæ. It derives its singular name from Babianer, by which the Dutch colonists call these plants, because their round subterranean stems are greedily eaten by baboons. It differs from Gladiolus in its round, leather coated seeds, and in the flowers having the tube of Izia; and from Ixia in their having the irregular limb, of Gladiolus. Fourteen or fifteen species are known, among which are some of the handsomest of the Cape bulbous plants, as they are commonly, though incorrectly, called. Bab'illard, n. ( Zool .) The French name of the Bab bler. See TIM A LINE.