524 
THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
. Ormosia—continued. 
trees, natives of tropical Asia and America. Flowers 
white, lilac, or dark purple, panicled or racemose; 
standard roundish. Pods oblong, or rarely elongated. 
Leaves impari- or somewhat abruptly pinnate; leaflets 
coriaceous, rarely stipellate; stipules small or incon- 
spicuous. Ormosias are most readily raised from im- 
ported seeds, or they may be propagated by cuttings of 
the half-ripened young shoots, inserted in sandy soil, 
under a bell glass, in bottom heat. The species thrive 
in a well-drained mixture of turfy loam and leaf 
mould. š 
O. coccinea (scarlet). fi. bine. June. Pods glabrous, shining 5 
seeds scarlet, with a black spot at one end, resembling 
l., leaflets somewhat ovate, thick, with revolute margins. . 10ft. 
to 20ft. Guiana, 1823. 
ick-fruited). blue, large. June. Pods 
O. dasycarpa (thick-fruited). fl. — Tg 3 
tomentose. l., leaflets acuminated, glab: 
h. 10ft. to 20ft. West Indies, 1795. 
= ORNAMENTAL GRASSES. See Grasses, Or- 
ae Included under Sarcochilus 
(which see). 
ORNITHIDIUM (from ornis, ornithos, a bird, and 
eidos, like; the upper lip of the stigma is beak-like). 
ORD. Orchidee. A genus comprising about a score 
species of stove epiphytal orchids, natives of tropical 
America, from Brazil to the West Indies. Flowers 
mediocre, or rather small; sepals sub-equal, free, 
spreading; petals similar to the sepals, or somewhat 
smaller; lip affixed to the foot of the column, unguicu- 
late at base; peduncles one-flowered, fasciculate in the 
axils. Leaves oblong or elongated, thinly coriaceous. 
Stems, in some species ascending, and in others root- 
like and branching, sheathed with imbricated scales, 
and bearing one-leaved pseudo-bulbs. The species de- 
scribed below (probably the only ones yet introduced) 
_ thrive in a warm, moist house, and do best in pots 
of peat fibre, sphagnum, and pieces of charcoal, During 
summer, they like a plentiful supply of water. 
O. coccineum (scarlet). fl. crimson, long-pedicellate, fascicled, 
nodding; sepals and spreading, 8989 pointed; 
lip undivided, ovate-oblong, bluntish, contracted above the base. 
June. J. approximate, linear-lanceolate, blunt, i „Ein. 
long. Pseudo-bulbs oval or roundish, compressed. 
to 
Stem low, scaly below. Jamaica, &c., 1790. . NM. 1 
name of Cymbidi i ; H. & BR) pisse 
> E. . 
O. densum (dense). f. white, purplish, in very dense, aggregated 
axillary racemes; sepals linear-lanceolate, acuminat i : 
petals rather smaller; li sorbent el 
oblong, undivided, channelled and 
recurved at apex. J. oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, inate. 
Pseudo-bulbs oblong, compressed, axillary, one-leaved. 
1836. (B. R. 1804, and Ref. B. 105, under name of Mazillaria 
densa.) 
O. strumatum (tumoured). f. white, small, solitary: th 
sepal acute. Z. linear-ligulate. Pseudo-bulbs — 2 
gated, one-leaved. Costa Rica, 1875. (R. X. O. iii. 207.) 
ORNITHOCEPHALUS (from ornis, ornithos, a 
bird, and kephale, a head; in reference to the form of 
the column and anther). ORD. Orchideew. A genus com- 
prising about a score species of stove epiphytal orchids, 
only one of which is probably in cultivation, natives of 
tropical America, from Brazil to Mexico. Flowers fre- 
quently small, in scattered racemes; sepals almost 
equal, free, spreading; petals similar; lip continuous 
with the base of the short column, the lateral lobes 
thick and rather broad; peduncles axillary, simple. 
Leaves fleshy or coriaceous, oblong or linear. The 
genus is remarkable for the very long, slender rostellum, 
to which the stalk of the pollen-masses is attached by 
means of its terminal, glandular disk. This long 
rostellum, on a side view, is very like a bird’s bill; 
hence the name of the genus. These curious little 
orchids thrive in a warm, moist house, attached to 
blocks of teak, &c., and suspended near the glass. In 
exico, 
Ornithocephalus— coniinued. i 
hot, dry. weather, they will require frequently plunging 
into water of the same temperature as the house in 
which they are growing. 
O. grandifiorus (large-flowered). A. yellow; inflorescence many- 
flowered. i. large, oblong, blunt, acute or obtuse. A fine 
species. 
ORNITHOCHILUS (from ornis, ornithos, a bird, 
and cheilos, a lip; referring to the shape of the 
labellum). ORD. Orchidee. This genus comprises only 
a couple of species of stove epiphytal orchids, natives 
of Burmah and the Himalayas. Flowers small, pedi- 
cellate, disposed in lateral racemes; sepals spreading, 
the lateral ones rather broader; petals rather narrower 
than the dorsal sepal; lip spreading at base of column; 
lamina two or three-lobed. For culture of the under- 
mentioned species, see Aerides (with which this genus 
is sometimes confused). 
O. fuscus (brownish). fl. brownish-yellow, striped with purple, 
odorous; sepals oblong, obtuse, lateral ones larger, oblique; 
tals linear, obtuse; lip cucullate, bilobed, unguiculate, the 
obes rotundate, fimbriated, with a conical spur. l oblong, 
fleshy, acute, obliquely bilobed. Nepaul, 1865. This is the 
proper name of plant described in this work as Aerides 
difforme. ; 
ORNITHOGALUM (the old Greek name used 
by Dioscorides, from ornis, ornithos, a bird, and 
gala, milk; supposed to be so called because the 
flowers of some species are white as milk, or hens’ 
eggs). Star of Bethlehem. ORD. Liliacew. An exten- 
sive genus (about seventy species) of hardy, half-hardy, 
or greenhouse bulbous plants, natives of Europe, the 
Orient, and Africa, one being found in extra-tropical 
America. Flowers small or mediocre, disposed in elongated 
or sub-corymbose racemes; perianth six-parted at base, 
white or yellow, rarely fulvous, never red or rose-purple. 
Leaves linear, lorate, or subulate, fleshy-herbaceous or 
somewhat firm. Many of the species are decidedly pretty 
and interesting border flowers, of the easiest cultivation. 
The taller, strong-growing, hardy kinds are suitable for 
naturalising in the wild garden, &c., whilst others are 
good pot plants for cool conservatory decoration. Propa- 
gated by offsets. The species described below are 
hardy, except where otherwise stated; several of the 
greenhouse kinds, though, might fairly be called half- 
hardy. 
O. anomalum (anomalous). fi. yellowish; raceme somewhat 
loose, thirty to forty-flowered ; scape slender, terete, pale glau- 
cous-green, 1ft. long. i. very frequently solitary, rarely twin, 
12 ft. to 2ft. long, jin. thick, fleshy-herbaceous. Cape of Good 
Hope, 1862. Greenhouse. (Ref. B. 178.) 
O. arabicum (Arabian).* jl. white, with a black centre, having à 
distinct, aromatic odour, large ; raceme six to twelve-flowered, 
round or deltoid, 3in. to Sin. long and broad; scape lft. to 2ft. 
long. Summer. . lft. to 14ft. long, zin. to lin, broad. Spain to 
Greece and Egypt, 1629. This very showy and distinct species 
does not flower so freely in the open air as do most others. (B. M. 
728; B. M. 3179 and B. R. 906, under name of OC. corymbosum.) 
O. biflorum (two-flowered). 15 greenish-white ; raceme loose, six 
to twenty-flowered, Sin. to Ain. long, lsin. to 2in. broad; scape 
Ein. to 12in. long. April. Z. four to six, fleshy-herbaceous, linear, 
bin. to 12in. long, jin. to zin. broad. Peru, Greenhouse. 
(S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 246.) There is a variety of this, chloroleuca, 
with few-flowered, loose racemes, (B. R. 1853, under name of 
O. chloroteucum.) 
O. capitatum (headed). f white; raceme dense, twenty to 
thirty-flowered, capitate, globose, lin. to l4in. broad; scape 6in. 
to din. long. June. Z. fleshy-herbaceous, linear-lorate, about lft. 
long, zin. broad. Kaffraria, 1862. Greenhouse. (B. M. 5388.) 
O. caudatum (tailed). fl. white, green; raceme fifty to a 
hundred (or more) flowered; scape terete, lift. to 3ft. long. 
y. J. five or six, fleshy-herbaceous, lorate-lanceolate, 1}ft. to 
2ft. long, 1łin. to IZin. broad. Cape of Good Hope, 1774. Green- 
house. (B. M. 805; Ref. B. 262.) 
. comosum (hairy). fl. greenish-white; racemes twelve to 
thirty-flowered ; scape Sin. to Ein. long. July. J. five or six, 
ascendent, 6in. to din. long, about zin. broad; margins ob- 
scurely ciliated. South and East Europe, 1596. (Fl. Ment. 67.) 
O. corymbosum (corymbose). A synonym of O. arabicum. 
0. — datum (pointed). jl. greenish-white; perianth segments 
cuspidate ; racemes twelve to twenty-flowered, corymbose, din. to 
6in. broad; scape Sin. to Sin. long. March. l. five or six, linear, 
