AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



467 



Ociimuu continued. 



warm regions of the globe. Flowers often white, small, or 

 mediocre ; whorls six to ten-flowered, disposed in terminal, 

 simple, or paniculate racemes ; bracts rarely exceeding 

 the flowers. Few of the species have any horticultural 

 value, though O. Basilicum is largely grown in pots, on 

 the Continent, for room decoration. For culture, &c., of 

 the annual species, see Basil, Sweet. The shrubby kinds 

 may be increased by cuttings of the young shoots, in- 

 serted in sandy soil, in a frame, and kept shaded until 

 rooted. All like well-drained, rather dry, sandy loam. 



Fia. 712. PORTION OF PI,ANT AND PIECE OF DETACHED 

 INFLORESCENCE OF OCIMUM BASILICUM. 



O. Basilicum. Common or Sweet Basil, fl. white; racemes 

 .simple. August. I. petiolate, ovate or oblong, narrowed at the 

 base, a little toothed, h. 1ft. Warm regions of Asia and Africa, 

 1548. Erect or ascending annual. See Fig. 712. 



O. canum (hoary). /. white, in simple racemes ; calyces longer 

 than the pedicels. July. I. petiolate, ovate, narrowed at both 

 ends, almost entire, canescent beneath, h. lit. Madagascar, &c., 

 1822. Plant erect, herbaceous, pubescent. (B. M. 2452.) 



O. febrifugum (febrifuge). A synonym of O. viride. 



O. filamentosum (thready), fl. white, rather large, in simple 

 racemes ; corolla four times as long as the calyx. July to October. 

 I. shortly petiolate, ovate-oblong, narrowed at both ends, acutely 

 serrated, finely pubescent. Stem shrubby, branched, tomentose. 

 h. 2ft. to 3ft. East Africa, 1802. (B. E. 1843, 15, under name of 

 Becium bicolor.) 



O. micranthum (small-flowered), fl. small, arranged in whorls 

 of three, in terminal leafless racemes ; corolla nearly white. May. 

 I. rather long-stalked ; young ones oblong, acuminated ; older 

 ones 3in. or more long, broadly ovate, acute, serrated, h. Sin. to 

 lOin. West Indies, 1825. Annual. (B. M. 2996, under name of 

 O. montanum.) 



O. minimum (least). Bush Basil, fl. white, in short, simple 

 racemes ; whorls loose. Summer. I. on long petioles, ovate, 

 almost or quite entire. Stem erect, finely pubescent, h. 6in. to 

 12in. Chili, 1573. Annual. 



O. montanum (mountain). A synonym of 0. micranthum. 



O. scutellarioides (Scutellaria-like). A synonym of Coleus 

 scutellarioides. 



O. viride (green), fl. greenish-white, in branched racemes ; corolla 

 hardly exceeding the calyx. July to October. I. petiolate, ovate- 

 oblong, acuminated, crenated, narrowed at base, glabrous or 

 downy on the ribs ; floral ones bract-formed. Stem shrubby, 

 branched, h. 2ft. to 4ft. West Africa, 1816. The leaves of this 

 species are used in the manner of tea, as a febrifuge, at Sierra 

 Leone, under the name of Fever Plant. (B. R. 753, under name of 

 0. J'ebrifit<j(i,ni.) 



OCOTEA (said to be the native name of the tree in 

 Guiana). STN. Oreodaphne. ORD. Laurineai. A large 

 genus (about 200 species) of stove or greenhouse trees, 

 or rarely shrubs, for the most part natives of tropical and 

 sub-tropical America, a few being found in the Canary 

 Islands, South Africa, and the Mascarene Islands. Flowers 

 small, glabrous, or rarely slightly tomentose, disposed in 

 axillary or almost terminal pedunculate panicles ; perianth 

 tube short or campanulate ; limb segments six. Leaves 



Ocotea continued. 



alternate or scattered, rarely almost opposite, coriaceous, 

 penniveined. The undermentioned is probably the only 

 species yet introduced. It thrives in well-drained loam, 

 and is propagated by cuttings of the young ripened wood, 

 inserted, during summer, in a sandy soil, under a bell glass. 



O. bullata (blistered). fl. green, remarkably small, racemose. 

 I. olive or brownish-green, alternate, coriaceous, elliptical, entire, 

 acute, rather obtuse at baseband having at the axils of two or 

 more of the lower costal veins on the under side, deep pits or 

 hollows, exhibiting on the upper side corresponding elevations 

 (whence the specific nameX Cape of Good Hope. Greenhouse 

 tree. (B. M. 3331, under name of Oreodaphne bullata.) 

 O. californica. See Umbellularia californica. 



OCTADESMIA (from okto, eight, and detune, a 

 bundle ; in reference to the eight pollen masses). ORD. 

 Orchidece. A genus comprising only three species of 

 stove, epiphytal Orchids, natives of Jamaica and San 

 Domingo. Flowers mediocre, shortly pedicellate ; sepals 

 almost of equal length, somewhat spreading ; petals a 

 little broader than the sepals ; lip at base of column 

 nearly erect; peduncle terminal, simple or slightly 

 branched. Leaves linear-lanceolate, distichous, some- 

 what rigid, not fleshy. 0. montana, the only species 

 in cultivation, is a singular little Orchid, more curious 

 than beautiful. It succeeds in an intermediate house, 

 planted in a small teak basket, using a compost of peat 

 fibre, sphagnum, and bits of charcoal. Water must be 

 liberally supplied during summer, and, to a considerable 

 extent, withheld during winter. 



O. montana (mountain), fl. white, suffused with a fulvous 

 colour; sepals and petals lanceolate; lip oblong-linear, crenu- 

 late; raceme terminal, few-flowered. October. I. distichous, 

 serrulate at apex, linear-lanceolate, sheathed at base. h. bin. 

 Bio Janeiro, 1826. (B. M. 2823, under name of Octomeria 

 serrattfolia.) 



OCTANDHOUS. Having eight stamens. 

 OCTOGYNOUS. Having eight styles. 



OCTOMERIA (from okto, eight, and men's, a part; 

 in allusion to the pollen masses). SYN. Aspegrenia. 

 ORD. Orchideas. A genus of greenhouse, epiphytal Orchids. 

 Nearly a score species have been described, although, pro- 

 bably, not more than three have been introduced ; they are 

 natives of Brazil, Guiana, and the West Indies. Flowers 

 whitish or yellowish, inconspicuous, in dense, sessile 

 clusters ; anther-bed rotundate, rostellum short ; pollinia 

 eight. Leaves oblong, linear, or sub-terete. Stem de- 

 veloped. These curious little Pleurothallis-like epiphytes 

 are frequently imported along with Bromeliads, about the 

 bases of which they grow on the trunks of large trees. 

 For their cultivation they require greenhouse treatment. 

 They thrive in pots of peat and sphagnum, and require 

 abundance of water at all times. 



O. graminifolia (Grass-leaved), fl. 



yellow, with two red 



spots ; perigonal divisions ovate-lanceolate, interior little 

 snorter ; lip cuneate-oblong, blunt, or minutely denticulate at 

 the summit, obliquely two-crested, and with two short lateral 

 lobes at the middle. May. I. lanceolate-linear, h. 6in. West 

 Indies, 1793. (B. M. 2764.) 



O. Saundersiana (Saunders'). fl. pale yellow, with three 

 purple stripes on the sepals and petals ; lip ochre-coloured ; 

 disk and calli mauve, streaked in front, and numerously 

 dotted. Winter. I. thick, terete, subulate. Brazil, 1880. 



O. serratifolia (serrate-leaved). A synonym of Octadesmia 

 montana. 



O. tricolor (three-coloured), fl. white, small. I. cuneate- 

 oblong, tessellated with purple beneath. Brazil, 1872. 



OCTOMERIA (of Don). A synonym of Eria 

 (which see). 



OCYMUM. A synonym of Ocimum (which see). 



ODES, OIDES. A Greek termination, signifying 

 similarity ; e.g., Phyllodes, leaf-like. 



ODONTADENIA (from odoits, odontos, a tooth, and 

 aden, a gland ; in allusion to the five-toothed glands). 

 SYNS. Anisolobus, Cylicadenia. ORD. Apocynacece. A 

 genus comprising about eighteen species of stove, seandent 



