482 
THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
Olearia—continued. 
to 5ft. Tasmania. A very handsome shrub; hardy if afforded 
some 8 in winter. SYN. Eurybia Gunniana. See 
Fig. (G. C. n. s., xvii. 733.) ; 
O. Haastii (Haast’s).* A.- heads white, numerous, y pedi- 
cellate, in lax or dense, sub-terminal, corymbose, * 7 
ugust. 
duncles usually much longer than the leaves. 
. Zin. to lin. long, elliptic or ovate-oblong, obtuse 
or sub-acute, white beneath. Branches woody, thick, the 
ultimate ones hoary. New Zealand. Hardy shrub, (B. M. 6592.) 
O. ramulosa (slightly-branched). fl.-ħheads whitish, small, very 
numerous, usually sessile, or terminating very short peduncles 
or branchlets. Autumn. Z. crowded, usually very small and 
spreading, sometimes reflexed and clustered in the axils, one 
to six lines long. h. 3ft. to 6ft. Australia. A much-branched 
shrub. 
OLEASTER. See Eleagnus. 
OLERACEOUS. Esculent; suitable for culinary 
use. 
OLPERSIA. Included under Acrostichum (which 
see). 
OLIBANUM-TREE. See Boswellia. 
OLIGOCARPHA. A synonym of Brachylena. 
OLIGOSCIAS. Included under Panax (which see). 
OLIGOSMA. A synonym of Nothoscordum (which 
see). 
OLIVACEOUS. Greenish-brown. 
OLIVE, The original home of the Olive is, probably, 
Asia Minor and Greece, but it is now abundantly natu- 
ralised in many countries, notably in the Mediterranean 
region. “ The Olive is one of the most characteristic 
and beautiful features of all Southern scenery. On the 
slopes of the Northern Apennines, Olives are the usual 
forest timber; the whole of the Val d’Arno is wooded 
with them, every one of its gardens is filled with them, 
and they grow, in orchard-like ranks, out of its fields of 
maize, or corn, or vine, so that it is physically impos- 
sible, in most parts of the neighbourhood of Florence, 
Pistoja, Lucca, or Pisa, to choose any site of land- 
scape which shall not owe its leading character to the 
foliage of these trees. 
I know he cannot answer my chal- 
Now, the main characteristics of an Olive, 
tree are these: It has sharp and slender leaves, of a 
greyish-green, nearly grey on the under surface, and re- 
sembling, but somewhat smaller than, those of our com- 
mon Willow. Its fruit, when ripe, is black and lustrous ; 
but, of course, so small that, unless in great quantity, 
it is not conspicuous on the tree. Tts trunk and 
branches are particularly fantastic in their twisting, show- 
ing their fibres at every turn; and the trunk is often 
hollow, and even rent into many divisions, like separated 
stems; but the extremities are exquisitely graceful, 
especially in the setting-on of the leaves; and the 
notable and characteristic effect of the tree in the dis- 
tance is of a rounded and soft mass, or ball, of downy 
foliage ” (Ruskin, “ Stones of Venice Ha à 
The Olive has been cultivated from time immemorial 
for the sake of the oil, obtained by pressure from the 
pulp of its fruit. In some countries, this oil forms an 
important article of food, besides being extensively used 
in cooking other articles; but in this country its principal 
use is in salads, &. Olives for pickling consist of the 
unripe fruits deprived of a portion of their bitterness by 
being soaked in water, to which lime and wood ashes 
are sometimes added; they are then bottled in salt and 
water, and flavoured with aromatics. Olive branches have 
for ages been regarded as emblems of peace and plenty. 
A large number of varieties are cultivated, and these 
are propagated by grafting on the Wild Olive stock. 
See also Olea. 
OLIVE-BARK TREE. 
tappa. 
OLIVERIANA. 
3 see). ed 
- OLIVE, WILD. 
ropæa. 
OLIVE-WOOD. See Elæodendron. 
OMALANTHUS. A synonym of Homalanthus. 
OMENTARIA. A synonym of Tulbaghia (which see). 
See Terminalia Ca- 
Included under 
Trichopilia 
See Elæagnus and Olea eu- 
(which see). 
OMPHALEA (from omphalos, the navel; alluding to 
the umbilicated anthers). Syns. Duchola, Hebecocea, 
Hecatea, Omphalandria, Ronnowia. ORD. Euphorbiacee. 
A genus comprising eight species of stove, climbing or 
twining shrubs, rarely diffuse trees; one is a ive of 
Madagascar, and the rest are tropical American. Flowers 
cymulose, monœcious, apetalous; k 
of male flowers, or with one female in the centre, and dis- 
posed in terminal panicles. Fruit thick, fleshy exterr lly. 
Leaves alternate, often large, entire, ] 
often three to five-nerved at base; petioles biglandulose 
at apex. O. triandra, the only species yet introd 
thrives in a mixture of peat and loam» - pagated 
cuttings, inserted in sand, under a glass, in heat. 
O. triandra (three-anthered). A. with three anthers. Fr. 
globose, furrowed, 14in. in diameter. 
glabrous. h.12ft. Jamaica, &., 1763. Diffuse tree. 
extracted from this species, which turns black in drying, and is 
said to be used in making ink, or as glue; the nuts, after the 
poisonous embryo is extracted, are edible. (L. B. C. 519.) 
OMPHALOBIUM. A synonym of Connarus (which® 
see). i ’ 
OMPHALOCOCCA. A synonym of Ægiphila. 
OMPHALODES (from omphalos, the navel, and 
eidos, resemblance; referring to the shape of the seed). 
Syn. Picotia. ORD. Boraginew. A genus of very orna- 
mental, hardy, annual or perennial herbs, distin ished 
from allied genera in having the four nut-like seeds 
furnished with an inflexed margin, which renders 
them cup-shaped. There are about ten species, natives 
of Europe, North Africa, Western and Central Asia, 
„ 
Fig. 727. UPPER PORTION OF PLANT OF OMPHALODES VERNA 
and Japan. Flowers white or bluish, on slender pedi- 
cels, rarely all axillary; racemes loose, ebracteate, 
or with leafy bracts at base. Radical leaves long-stalked, 
lanceolate, ovate, or cordate; stem ones few, alternate. 
The four species in our gardens are of easy culture in 
any moderately good soil; they are very suitable for 
naturalising in woods and shrubberies, where the head- 
growth is not too dense. Propagated freely by divisions, 
in the spring; or by seeds, sown at the same season. 
0. linifolia (Flax-leaved). venus's Navelwort. f. white, rarely 
with a tinge of blue, in bractless racemes. June to August. 
l., radical ones cuneiform; stem ones linear-lanceolate, glabrous, 
* 
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OMPHALANDRIA. A synonym of Omphalea 
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