(ENOTHERA. 



214 



ONCrDIUM. 



Odontoglo'ssum. — Orckidacece. 

 — A splendid genus of Mexican ej.i- 

 pbytes, requiring the usual treatment 

 of similar plants. — See Orchideocs 

 Epiphytes. 



CEnothe'ra. — Onar/racecB.-The 

 Evening Primrose. — Perennial, bien- 

 nial, and annual plants, with large 

 flowers. The yellow and white-flow- 

 ering kinds, which are the time 

 Evening Primroses, are now the only 

 ones left in the genus, the purple- 

 flowered ones having been removed 

 to the genus GtODe'tia. The Even- 

 ing Primroses have the peculiarity 

 of only opening their flowers in an 

 evening, or when the sun is overcast; 

 as, contrary to the habits of most 

 other flowers, they seem unable to 

 bear much light. They are all of the 

 easiest culture, and will grow in any 

 common garden-soil, without any 

 other care than occasionally taking 

 up and replanting the perennial kinds, 

 and sowing the annual and biennial 

 ones every year in March or April. 

 Of the biennial kinds, (E. nocturna 

 and CE. v'dlbsa, both natives of the 

 Cape of Good Hope, are rather ten- 

 der ; and of the perennials, (E. rosea, 

 CE. ccespifosa, and CE. anisoloha, re- 

 quire a slight protection during win- 

 ter. CE. acaHlis, which is a native 

 of Chili, though a common border 

 flower, should have a flower-pot or 

 hand-glass turned over it in severe 

 frosts : CE. ccBspUbsa and CE. ani- 

 soloha, both splendid pjlants, should 

 also be protected during winter, par- 

 ticularly from heavy rains, as they 

 are very apt to damp oti" if they are 

 exposed to too much moistui-e. Paxton 

 recommends removing the damp soil 

 from the roots of these plants when 

 growing in the open ground in Oc- 

 tober, and aft€r replacing it with dry 

 soil, covering the plant with dry sav,-- 

 dust, and setting a flower-pot over it, 

 the hole in the bottom having been 

 first stopped to keep out the snow and 



I rain. In this state it should remain 

 I tiU March, when the sawdust should 

 be removed, and the plant covered 

 vnih. a hand glass till it can bear ex- 

 posure to the cold. Both kinds should 

 be grown in a mixture of peat and 

 loam ; and both are propagated by 

 dividing the root into pieces about an 

 inch and a half long in autumn, and 

 I planting them. 



I Offsets are a natural means by 

 j which plants propagate themselves. 

 ; In bulbs, the offsets are small bulbs 

 j which foi-m by the side of the prin- 

 ! cipal one from which they shoidd be 

 ' broken oS" when the bulbs are taken 

 j up and replanted. In shrubs and 

 I perennial plants, the ofi"sets either 

 spring from the collar of the old 

 I plant, or from an underground stem ; 

 I and in both cases, as they are pro- 

 I ^'ided with roots of their ovm, though 

 I they draw a part of their support 

 j from the main stem, they only re- 

 ! quire dividing and replanting to 

 i form new plants 



I Oiled Paper, calico, or silk, is 

 I often used as a substitute for glass 

 ' in hotbed frames, for raising seeds 

 or striking cuttings ; and it is pecu- 

 liarly adajjted for the latter purpose, 

 as it generates more heat than glass. 

 Old Man's Beard. — See Gtero- 

 po'gon. 



Oleander. —See Ne^rium. 

 Onci'dil'M. — Orchidacecc.--'\^Q\l- 

 known orchideous plants, with very 

 curious flowers. 0. 'pajAlio, the But- 

 terfly-plant, is certainly as much like 

 a butterfly as it is possible to imagine 

 a flower to be ; and as it is borne on 

 a long slender stem, which quivers 

 ■with every breeze, it forms no bad 

 representation of a beautiful insect 

 fluttering over the neighbouring 

 flowers. 0. aliissimum has a spike 

 of flowers which is sometimes ten or 

 twelve feet in length. ' All the kinds 

 are very handsome, and some of them 

 ai-e splendid. They are all natives of 



