genus of annual plants with about 20 species, of the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae), native primarily to Eurasia. The commonly cultivated garden species is summer cypress (B. scoparia), sometimes known as standing, or Belvedere, cypress. The most widely grown variety is the red summer cypress, also called firebush or burning bush (B. scoparia forma trichophylla), an erect, often globe-shaped plant with many branches and untoothed, narrow leaves, often hairy. The leaves may be yellow, red, or green and all turn purplish red in autumn. It is often grown as an ornamental summer hedge.