466 THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
OBESIA. A synonym of Podanthes (which see). 
OBLIONKER-TREE. A common name of Æsculus 
Hippocastanum. 
OBLIQUE. Unequal-sided, or slanting. 
OBLONG. ; Elliptical, and obtuse at either end; e.g., 
the leaf of some species of Rumex, Sedum, &c. 
Fic. 711. OBOVATE LEAF. 
OBOVATE, or OBOVOID. Inversely egg-shaped, 
with the broadest end uppermost. An Obovate leaf is 
shown at Fig. 711. 
OBSOLETE. Hardly evident. z 
OBTUSE. Blunt, òr rounded. 
OBVERSE. A term applied in precisely the same 
manner as Ob (which see). 
OBVOLUTE. Having one part rolled upon another. 
‘ OCELLATED. When a broad round spot of one 
colour has a different-coloured spot within it. 
OCHNA (from Ochne, the old Greek name, used by 
‘Homer, for the Wild Pear, to which the foliage of this 
genus bears some resemblance). ORD. Ochnacew. A 
genus comprising about twenty-five species of stove, 
evergreen shrubs, natives of tropical Asia and tropical 
and Southern Africa. Flowers yellow, racemose, rising 
from below the leaves, from the wood of the preceding 
year; sepals five, coloured; petals five to ten; pedicels 
articulated. Fruit succulent, of five, ten, or fewer 
carpels, placed on the enlarged receptacle. Leaves 
alternate, deciduous, serrulate, rarely entire, coriaceous, 
shining, thickly nerved. Several species are very orna- 
mental, but the undermentioned are probably the only 
ones in cultivation. They thrive best in a compost of 
sandy peat and fibry loam; plenty of drainage is very 
essential. Propagated, i summer, by cuttings of 
half-ripened shoots. . 
atro) k s yellow; T) 
8 le, with ovate —— ical oi 1 8 
y denticulate. h. Aft. Cape of Good Hope, 1816. (B. M. 
O. multiflora -flowered w, of very short duration. 
= eon AE rocoptacle gradu y 8 in e 
b form, about the size of à Straw! „but less 
and similar in colour; upon it are e black, seed-like 
bodies, about the size of Peas, which are really the carpels, and 
these present a striking contrast with the bright crimson re- 
e and calyx. l narrow, elliptical, bright green, serrated. 
h. Aft. to Sft. Sierra Leone, 1820 and i882. A remarkable and 
me plant. 
OCHNACEZ:. An order of trees or shrubs with 
watery juice, sparsely scattered over the whole of the 
tropical regions (mostly in America). Flowers herm- 
aphrodite, often large and showy, usually paniculate, 
rarely axillary and solitary, or fasciculate; sepals four 
or five, free, imbricated; petals five, rarely four or ten, 
free, longer than the calyx, deciduous, spreading, sub- 
sessile, imbricated or convolute. Fruit a drupe or berry. 
Leaves alternate, stipulate, highly glabrous, simple (in 
one genus pinnate), coriaceous, frequently with serrated 
margins, often thickly nerved; stipules varying. Some 
the possess tonio properties. The berries of 
nphia Jabotapita are edible. The order contains a 
dozen genera and about 140 species. The principal genus 
1 
— 
OCHRACEOUS, or OCHREOUS. 
colour of yellow ochre. 
OCHRANTHE. A synonym of Turpinia (which 
see). 8 
ói * 
OCHREA. A term applied to a membranous tubular 
stipule, formed by the consolidation of two opposite 
stipules, and through which the stem passes. i 
Having the 
+ 
8 
a fruit; alluding to the colour of the fruits), SYN. 
Calysaccion. ORD. Guttifere. A genus comprising about 
half-a-dozen species of stove trees, natives of Asia, tropical 
disposed in lateral or axillary short cymes or fascicles ; 
petals four. Leaves opposite or ternately whorled, coria- 
ceous. The species described below is probably the only 
one yet introduced; it thrives freely in a sandy loam 
compost. Propagation may be effected by cuttings of 
the ripened wood, inserted, with the leaves intact, in 
sand, under a glass, in moist heat. 
O. africanus (African). Fr. with a brown and thick rind, and a 
yellow pulp, twice the size of a man’s fist, round. } oblong, 
acuminated, shining dark green, abounding in a yellow, resinous 
gum. R. 60ft. Tropical Africa. SyN. Mammea africana. 
OCHROLEUCUS. Whitish-yellow. 
OCHROMA (from ochros, pale; referring to the 
colour of the flowers). ORD. Malvacew. A monotypic 
genus. The species is a stove evergreen tree. It thrives 
in a rich sandy loam. Propagated by cuttings of half- 
ripened side-shoots, inserted in sand, under a bell glass, 
in heat. 
f e. mors 
than lit. long. l cordate, five to seven-angled, rather lobed, 
toothleted, downy beneath. k. 40ft. West Indies, &c., 1802. 
OCHROPTERIS (from ochros, pale, and pferis, a 
fern; in reference to the colour of the plant). ORD. 
Filices. A monotypic genus. The species is an extremely 
rare and beautiful stove fern, requiring an abundance of 
heat and moisture to grow it successfully. It thrives 
best in a compost of peat and sand, with a little 
loam added. For general culture, see Ferns. 
O. pallens (pale). sti. 2ft. long, naked. fronds about the same 
length, about lft. broad, deltoid, quadripinnatifid ; lower pinnules 
3in. to 4in. long, 2in. broad, their segments cut down to the rachis 
below, with oblong, toothed, lower lobes. sori marginal, trans- 
versely oblong, occupying the apices of the lobes of the segments ; 
involucre the same shape as the sorus, formed of the reflexed 
margin of the frond, with which it coincides in texture, and 
covering the sorus. Mauritius. (H. S. F. 77B.) 1 
OCHROSIA (from ochros, pale yellow; alluding to 
the colour of the flowers), Syns. Bleekeria, Lactaria. 
ORD. Apocynacee. A genus comprising about a dozen 
species of stove trees, allied to Cerbera, natives of the 
Mascarene Islands, tropical Australia, the Malayan Archi- 
pelago, and the Pacific Islands. Calyx five-parted; 
corolla funnel-shaped, five-lobed; cymes pedunculate, at 
the tips of the branches. Leaves whorled or rarely 
opposite or scattered, slender, and thickly penniveined. 
The two species here given are probably the only ones 
yet introduced. For culture, see Tabernemontan’ . 
O. borbonica (Bourbon). fl. white, rather large ; calyx lobes 
ovate. June. l. three (rarely four) in a whorl, oblong or oblong- 
lanceolate, obtuse or sub-acute, šin. to Ein. long, glossy, Zin. to 
a broad, often spotted; margins not revolute. h. 20ft. to 
Mauritius, &c., 1782. Syn. O. maculata. (A. B. R. 130, 
under name of undulata.) 
O. elliptica (elliptic-leaved). ellow, in small, dense, corymbose 
> cymes, 3 — É the uppermost axils, l. elliptic, 
—- deep green, usually three in a whorl. Queen land, 
cc ri 
O. maculata (spotted). A synonym of O. borbonica. 
OCIMUM (from Okimon, the old Greek name, used by 
‘Theophrastus, for Basil). Basil. Including Becium. Syn. 
um. ORD. Labiate. A genus of half-hardy herbs, 
| sub-shrubs, or small shrubs, broadly dispersed over the 
OCHROCARPUS (from ochros, yellow, and karpos, 
Africa, and the Mascarene Islands. Flowers polygamous, 
