OTHONNA. * 
307 
PHONIA. 
mdjor may be sown on the roots, Hope; which are generally grown 
of any kind of broom or furze, and in loam and peat, and which only 
of caryophylldcea on the roots of /require the usual culture of their 
any kind of bramble or of Gallium | respective kinds. 
molligo; and they will probably | 
germinate. 
fragrant, may in the same manner 
be sown on the roots of wild thyme ; 
and O. elaétior on those of Cen- 
tauréa Scabiosa, the greater Knap- 
weed. 
O’rosus. — Leguminése. — The 
Bitter Vetch. Pea-flowered peren- 
nial plants, some of which are very 
ornamental, natives of Europe and 
North America, which should be 
grown in peat and loam, and are 
increased by dividing the root. 
Ory'za. — Graminee. — Rice. 
This plant is occasionally grown as 
an object of curiosity in England, 
though the climate is not hot 
enough to ripen the grain. It isa 
marsh plant, and requires to have its 
roots constantly supplied with water. 
Osace Orance.—See Macuu'ra. 
Osse’cxta. — Melastomacee. — 
Handsome stove plants, remarkable 
for their showy flowers, and strongly 
ribbed leaves. They should be 
grown in peat, mixed with one-third 
of sandy loam, and kept moist. 
They are propagated by cuttings. 
Osmu'Nnpa.— Filices—The flow- 
ering Fern. This is by far the 
handsomest of the Fern family. A 
native of Britain, which produces a 
fine effect in a shrubbery, or among 
trees; and which should be grown 
in peat, or other light soil, and kept 
moist. 
Osy‘r1s.— Osyridee.—The Poets’ 
Cassia. A pretty little shrub, with 
white flowers, a native of the South 
of Europe; which should be grown 
in loam and peat, and which is pro- 
pagated by cuttings. 
Orno'nna.— Composite. — Rag- 
wort. Coarse-growing greenhouse 
or frame annuals, perennials, and 
low shrubs, all with yellow fiowers, 
and all natives of the Cape of Good 
O. rii‘bra, which is very | rel. 
O'xatis.—Oxalidee.—-Wood Sor 
Mostly perennial and tuber- 
ous-rooted plants from the Cape of 
Good Hope; but some few of which 
are natives of Britain, and others of 
Mexico and other parts of America. 
They have showy flowers, and are 
easily cultivated in sandy peat kept 
moist. All the Cape species require 
protection during winter, and are 
generally grown in pots 
e: 
Pzo'nra.—Ranunculdcee.—The 
herbaceous species are well-known 
showy flowers, which thrive in deep 
sandy soil, and are propagated by 
division; and the suffrutescent or 
|shrubby kinds, of which there are 
several varieties, thrive in similar 
soil, and are propagated by laying 
down the shoots, cutting behind 
each bud, and covering them 
throughout their whole length by 
an inch or two of sand or sandy 
soil. Each bud thus treated will 
throw up a shoot and emit roots, 
and after a year may be cut off so 
as to form a distinct plant. The 
tree Peony, as it is called, is quite 
hardy in the climate of London ; 
but as the flowers and leaves ¢ 
out early, they are liable to be ie 
jured by spring frosts, and 1 
therefore desirable to protect them 
by a horizontal covering a foot or 
two above the plant, which by re- 
flecting back the heat radiated from 
the soil keeps up such a tempera- 
ture as prevents the plant from freez- 
ing. There are many very hand- 
some varieties of the tree Peony, 
both double and single, but that 
which is most esteemed is the P. 
moutan papaverdcea, a single vari- 
ety in which the petals are large 
