ORON'TIUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



OSMANTHUS. 



719 



they bloom freely, and they are useful for 

 boi-ders in ordinary soil. 



0. lathyroides is a lovely border plant, 

 18 to 24 in. high ; its bright blue flowers 

 borne in dense racemes ; increased freely 

 by seeds, and thrives in ordinary 

 soil. 



0. vernus {Spring Bitter Vetch). — One 

 of the most charming of border flowers. 

 From black roots spring healthy tufts 

 of leaves with two or three pairs of shin- 



Spring Bitter Vetch (Orobus vernus). 



ing leaflets ; the flower-buds appearing 

 soon afterwards, almost covering the plant 

 with beautiful purple and blue blooms in 

 April. 



Besides the type there are varieties : — 

 tenuifolius, with narrow leaflets and 

 flowers similar, though the habit is more 

 lax ; flaccidus, similar to tenuifolius, but 

 brighter and denser, and with broader 

 leaves ; cyaneus, the most attractive, 

 larger and possessing a strange inter- 

 mixture of colours, some a bright blue, 

 others a greenish-blue. Then there is 

 a double-flowered kind and a pure 

 white variety, all thriving in deep warm 

 soils. 



Some other species useful for borders 

 and the rock-garden are — O. pubescens, 

 O. canescens, O. varius, and O. Fischeri, 

 but O. vernus and its forms are the 

 handsomest. All are of easy culture in 

 ordinary garden soil, and are increased by 

 seeds or division of the root. 



ORONTIUM((;^/rt'^« Club).-0. aquati- 

 cum is a handsome aquatic perennial of the 

 Arum family, 12 to 18 in. high ; in early 

 summer its narrow spadix is densely 

 covered with yellow flowers, which emit a 

 singular odour. The plant may be grown 

 on the margins of ponds and fountain- 

 basins, or in the wettest part of the bog- 

 garden. North America. 



OSMANTHUS. — Handsome ever- 

 green shrubs, few hardy in our islands ; 

 but some of these are of value : 



0. acLuifolium. — In a botanical sense 

 all forms of the Osmanthus in Britain are 

 of this species. They can scarcely be 

 called varieties, for it is not unusual to 

 see a plant with two so-called varieties 

 on one branch. For convenience and 

 brevity's sake, however, and especially as 

 they keep true to character in the majority 

 of instances, the common nursery names 

 are here kept up. O. aquifolium is a 

 native of China and Japan. In some of 

 its forms it is curiously like the Holly, 

 and is frequently mistaken for it. It is, 

 however, of looser growth and less thickly 

 furnished with leaves, and is also of 

 dwarfer, more shrubby habit. What is 

 generally accepted as the typical form of 

 this species is the one with the largest 

 and broadest leaves. In this the leaves 

 are 3 in. to 4 in. long, of oblong or oval 

 shape, pointed or toothed, but not so 

 deeply as the smaller-lea\ed forms known 

 as ilicifolius. They are of a deep green 

 colour and of very firm texture. This 

 plant is, according to my experience, the 

 least hardy of this set. It flowers in 

 autumn, and the blossoms are fragrant. 



0. ilicifolius. — This is by far the most 

 common and useful kind, and is, more- 

 over, a \-aluable shrub for town planting. 

 The leaves are usually much smaller than 

 those of the plant just described and may 

 be easily recognised by their deep lobing. 

 The largest specimen at Kew is 9 ft. high, 

 with a spreading base and foliage of the 

 deepest and glossiest green. The leaves 

 average i\ in. to 2 in. in length and are 

 cut half-way to the midrib into several 

 sharply pointed lobes. Some of the 

 leaves, however, are quite entire, others 

 lobed on one side only, but most of them 

 have the upper half lobed, the lower half 

 entire. The following have been given 

 varietal names :— Aureo-marginatus.— 

 Leaves similar to those of the green 

 plant, but margined with creamy yellow. 

 Argenteneo-marginatus. — • Leaves 

 like those of the preceding, but edged 

 with white instead of yellow. Latifolius 

 MARGINATUS. — Leaves larger than those 

 of either of the preceding, the margin 

 creamy white : — Purpurascens. — The 

 young leaves of this variety are tinged 

 with purple, especially on the under side. 

 It is undoubtedly the best of all the 

 Osnianthuses for outdoor work, being 

 much hardier than the variegated forms. 

 At Kew there is a group of this purple- 

 leaved variety near the Palm House, 

 amongst which is planted Lilium candi- 

 dum, and nothing could more happily 

 set off the beauty of this Lily. O. 

 MYRTIFOLIUS. — There is an Osmanthus 



