ONOSMA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN, OPHRYS. 



599 



Moderation in their use, however, is 

 desirable, as in some situations they 

 seed so freely as to require judicious 

 keeping down. O, Acanthium (Down 

 Thistle) is a bold and vigorous native 

 plant, with very large, stout branching 

 stems, often more than 5 feet high, 

 covered with long, whitish web-like 

 hairs, and bearing large heads of 

 purplish flowers. The habit of O. 

 illyricum is more branching, the leaves 

 and stems are much more spiny, the 

 stems are stiffer and the leaves are 

 greener and more deeply cut. O. 

 arabicum is 8 to 10 feet high, is erect 

 and very slightly branching, and both 

 sides of the leaves, as well as the 

 steins, are covered with white down. 

 O. grcecum is also a handsome plant. 



ONOSMA (Golden Drop}. O. taurica 

 is an evergreen perennial, 6 to 12 inches 

 high, soon forming dense tufts, and 

 bearing in summer drooping clusters 



Onosma taurica (Golden Drop). 



of clear yellow almond-scented blos- 

 soms. The best place for it is the 

 rock garden in a sunny position, 

 drained, with a good depth of soil, 

 so that the plants may root strongly 

 between the stones, the soil a good 

 sandy loam, mixed with broken grit. 

 It is impatient of disturbance and 

 abhors rich soils. Seeds are rarely 

 if ever produced in this country. 

 Cuttings, if secured with a heel 

 attached when quite young and in- 

 serted without further ado in sandy 

 soil in a handlight, root freely in 

 early summer. Greece. O. albo-roseum 

 from Asia Minor, and O. Bourgcei 

 from Armenia, are characterised by 

 woolly leaves and are dwarf er habited. 

 Their larger drooping flowers are 

 coloured rose and white. All respond 



to the same method of increase and 

 similar conditions of cultivation. 

 They are among the choicest of 

 alpine flowers. 



ONYCHITJM. O, japonicum, an ele- 

 gant Japanese Fern, often grown in the 

 greenhouse, is hardy in the outdoors 

 fernery. In severe winters, however, 

 some common Brake may be thrown 

 over it. The fronds are finely divided, 

 an intensely dark green, from i to 

 2 feet high, and useful for bouquets, 

 or for placing loosely in vases with 

 cut flowers. 



OPHIOGLOSSUM (A ddtr's-t 

 O. vulgatum is a native Fern not 

 often seen in gardens ; found in moist 

 meadows ; and the best position for 

 it therefore is in colonies in the hardy 

 fernery or the moist stiff soil in the 

 rock garden. O. lusitanicum, a dwarf 

 variety, is interesting, but capricious 

 and difficult to cultivate. 



OPHIOPOGON (Snake's - beard). - 

 Herbaceous perennials, about ij feet 

 high, the flowers, usually small, lilac, 

 appearing late in summer and in 

 autumn in spikes, 2 to 5 inches long, 

 rising from grassy tufts of evergreen 

 foliage. They thrive in borders or 

 margins of shrubberies in sandy loam, 

 but are scarcely ornamental. O. ja- 

 ponicus, Jaburan, spicatus, Muscari, 

 and longifolius are the best known, 

 and usually in botanical collections. 

 In Italy they are used to form green 

 turf, in lieu of grass, which perishes 

 from the heat. Division. Japan and 

 India. 



OPHRYS. Small terrestrial Orchids, 

 singularly beautiful, and among the 

 most curious of plants. Many have 

 been in cultivation, but these being 

 tender plants, chiefly from S. Europe, 

 they must have protection, and require 

 much attention. A few native species, 

 however, can be grown in gardens, and 

 of these one of the most singularly 

 beautiful is the Bee Orchis (O. apifera). 

 This varies from 6 inches to more than 

 i foot in height ; it has a few glaucous 

 leaves near the ground ; flowers 

 in early summer, the lip of a rich 

 velvety brown with yellow markings, 

 bearing a fanciful resemblance to a. 

 bee. It is usually considered difficult 

 to grow, but it may be easily kept on 

 dry banks in the rock garden in a 

 firm bed of calcareous soil, or of loam 

 mixed with broken limestone. It 

 thrive > best if the soil be surfaced with 

 some very dwarf plant, or with an 



