524 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Ormosia continued. 



trees, natives of tropical Asia and America. Flowers 

 white, lilac, or dark purple, panicled or racemose ; 

 standard roundish. Pods oblong, or rarely elongated. 

 Leaves impari- or somewhat abruptly pinnate ; leaflets 

 coriaceous, rarely stipellate ; stipules small or incon- 

 spicuous. Ormosias are most readily raised from im- 

 ported seeds, or they may be propagated by cuttings of 

 the half-ripened young shoots, inserted in sandy soil, 

 under a bell glass, in bottom heat. The species thrive 

 in a well-drained mixture of turfy loam and leaf 

 mould. 



O. coccinea (scarlet). /. blue. June. Pods glabrous, shining ; 



seeds scarlet, with a black spot at one end, resembling beads. 



I., leaflets somewhat ovate, thick, with revolute margins, h. 10ft. 



to 20ft. Guiana, 1823. 

 O. dasycarpa (thick-fruited), ft. blue, large. June. Pods 



toinentose. I., leaflets acuminated, glabrous on both sides. 



A. 10ft. to 20ft. West Indies, 1793. 



ORNAMENTAL GRASSES. See Grasses, Or- 

 namental. 



ORNITHARIUM. Included under Sarcocbilus 

 (which see). 



ORNITHIDIUM (from ornis, ornitlios, a bird, and 

 eidos, like ; the upper lip of the stigma is beak-like). 

 OED. Orchideoe. A genus comprising about a score 

 species of stove epiphytal orchids, natives of tropical 

 America, from Brazil to the West Indies. Flowers 

 mediocre, or rather small ; sepals sub-equal, free, 

 spreading; petals similar to the sepals, or somewhat 

 smaller ; lip affixed to the foot of the column, tmguicu- 

 late at base ; peduncles one-flowered, fasciculate in the 

 axils. Leaves oblong or elongated, thinly coriaceous. 

 Stems, in some species ascending, and in others root- 

 like and branching, sheathed with imbricated scales, 

 and bearing one-leaved pseudo-bulbs. The species de- 

 scribed below (probably the only ones yet introduced) 

 thrive in a warm, moist house, and do best in pots 

 of peat fibre, sphagnum, and pieces of charcoal. During 

 summer, they like a plentiful supply of water. 



O. cocclnenm (scarlet), ft. crimson, long-pedicellate, fascicled, 

 nodding ; sepals and petals spreading, ovate-lanceolate, pointed ; 

 lip undivided, ovate-oblong, bluntish, contracted above the base. 

 June. 1. approximate, linear-Ian ceolr te, blunt, emarginate, 6in. 

 to 12in. long. Pseudo-bulbs oval jr roundish, compressed. 

 Stem low, scaly below. Jamaica, &c., 1790. (B. M. 1437, under 

 name of Cymbidium cocdneum ; H. E. F. 38.) 



O. densum (dense). /. white, purplish, in very dense, aggregated, 

 axillary racemes ; sepals linear-lanceolate, acuminate, carfnate ; 

 petals rather smaller; lip oblong, undivided, channelled and 

 recurved at apex. I. oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, emarginate. 

 Pseudo-bulbs oblong, compressed, axillary, one-leaved. Mexico 

 1836. (B. R. 1804, and Ref. B. 105, under name of Maxillaria 

 densa.) 



O. strumatum (tumoured). /. white, small, solitary ; the upper 

 sepal acute. I. linear-ligulate. Pseudo-bulbs densely aggre- 

 gated, one-leaved. Costa Rica, 1875. (R. X. O. iii. 207.) 



ORNITHOCEPHALUS (from ornis, ornitlios, a 

 bird, and kephale, a head; in reference to the form of 

 the column and anther). OBD. Orchidece. A genus com- 

 prising about a score species of stove epiphytal orchids, 

 only one of which is probably in cultivation, natives of 

 tropical America, from Brazil to Mexico. Flowers fre- 

 quently small, in scattered racemes ; sepals almost 

 equal, free, spreading; petals similar; lip continuous 

 with the base of the short column, the lateral lobes 

 thick and rather broad ; peduncles axillary, simple. 

 Leaves fleshy or coriaceous, oblong or linear. The 

 genus is remarkable for the very long, slender rostellum, 

 to which the stalk of the pollen-masses is attached by 

 means of its terminal, glandular disk. This long 

 roatellum, on a side view, is very like a bird's bill; 

 hence the name of the genus. These curious little 

 orchids thrive in a warm, moist house, attached to 

 blocks of teak, &c., and suspended near the glass. In 



Ornithocephalus i u/ameied. 



hot, dry weather, they will require frequently plunging 

 into water of the same temperature as the house in 

 which they are growing. 

 O. grandiflorus (large-flowered), ft. yellow ; inflorescence many- 



flowered. I. large, oblong, blunt, acute or obtuse. A fine 



species. 



ORNITHOCHILUS (from ornis, omithos, a bird, 

 and cheilos, a lip ; referring to the shape of the 

 labellum). OBD. U.-chidecs. This genus comprises only 

 a couple of species of stove epiphytal orchids, natives 

 of Burmah and the Himalayas. Flowers small, pedi- 

 cellate, disposed in lateral racemes; sepals spreading, 

 the lateral ones rather broader; petals rather narrower 

 than the dorsal sepal; lip spreading at base of column; 

 lamina two or three-lobed. For culture of the under- 

 mentioned species, see Aerides (with which this genus 

 is sometimes confused). 



O. fusous (brownish), ft. brownish-yellow, striped with purple, 

 odorous; sepals oblong, obtuse, lateral ones larger, oblique; 

 petals linear, obtuse; lip cucullate, bilobed, unguiculate, the 

 lobes rotundate, flmbriated, with a conical spur. I. oblong, 

 fleshy, acute, obliquely bilobed. Nepaul, 1865. This is the 

 proper name of plant described in this work as Aeride* 

 di/orme. 



ORNITHOGAUJIIX (the old Greek name used 

 by Dioscorides, from ornis, omithos, a bird, and 

 gala, milk; supposed to be so called because the 

 flowers of some species are white as milk, or hens' 

 eggs). Star of Bethlehem. OBD. Liliaceas. An exten- 

 sive genus (about seventy species) of hardy, half-hardy, 

 or greenhouse bulbous plants, natives of Europe, the 

 Orient, and Africa, one being found in extra-tropical 

 America. Flowers small or mediocre, disposed in elongated 

 or sub-corymbose racemes ; perianth six-parted at base, 

 white or yellow, rarely fulvous, never red or rose-purple. 

 Leaves linear, lorate, or subulate, fleshy-herbaceous or 

 somewhat firm. Many of the species are decidedly pretty 

 and interesting border flowers, of the easiest cultivation. 

 The taller, strong-growing, hardy kinds are suitable for 

 naturalising in the wild garden, &c., whilst others are 

 good pot plants for cool conservatory decoration. Propa- 

 gated by offsets. The species described below are 

 hardy, except where otherwise stated ; several of the 

 greenhouse kinds, though, might fairly be called half- 

 hardy. 



O. anomalum (anomalous). '?. yellowish ; raceme somewhat 

 loose, thirty to forty-flowered ; scape slender, terete, pale glau- 

 cous-green, lift. long. 1. very frequently solitary, rarely twin, 

 lift to 2ft. long, iin. thick, fleshy-herbaceous. Cape of Good 

 Hope, 1862. Greenhouse. (Ref. B. 178.) 



O. aratoicum (Arabian).* fl. white, with a black centre, having a 

 distinct, aromatic odour, large ; raceme six to twelve-flowered, 

 round or deltoid, Sin. to Sin. long and broad ; scape 1ft. to 2ft. 

 long. Summer. 1. 1ft. to lift, long, fin. to Iin. broad. Spain to 

 Greece and Egypt, 1629. This very showy and distinct species 

 does not flower so freely in the open air as do most others. (B. M. 

 728 ; B. M. 3179 and B. R. 906, under name of 0. coryinbosum.) 



O. biflorum (two-flowered), fl. greenish-white ; raceme loose, six 

 to twenty-flowered, Sin. to 4in. long, liin. to 2in. broad ; scape 

 6in. to 12in. long. April. I. four to six, fleshy-herbaceous, linear, 

 6in. to 12in. long, Jin. to iin. broad. Peru, 1832. Greenhouse. 

 (S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 246.) There is a variety of this, chloroleuca, 

 with few-flowered, loose racemes. (B. R. 1853, under name of 

 0. ctdoroleucum.) 



O. capitatum (headed), ft. white; raceme dense, twenty to 

 thirty-flowered, capitate, globose, Iin. to liin. broad ; scape 6m. 

 to 9in. long. June. 1. fleshy-herbaceous, linear-lorate, about 1ft. 

 long, iin. broad. Kaffraria, 1862. Greenhouse. (B. M. 5388.) 



O. caudatum (tailed), fl. white, green; raceme fifty to a 

 hundred (or more) flowered; scape terete, lft. to 3ft. long. 

 May. 1. five or six, fleshy-herbaceous, lorate-lanceolate, IJft. to 

 2ft. long, ljin. to l^in. broad. Cape of Good Hope, 1774. Green- 

 house. (B. M. 805 ; Ref. B. 262.) 



O. comosum (hairy). fl.. greenish-white ; racemes twelve to 

 thirty-flowered ; scape Sin. to 6in. Ions;. July. I. five or six, 

 ascendent, 6in. to 9in. Ion?, about iin. broad; margins ob- 

 scurely ciliated. South and East Europe, 1596. (Fl. Ment. 67.) 



O. corymbosum (corymbose). A synonym of 0. arabicum. 



O. cuspidatum (pointed), ft. greenish-white; perianth segments 

 cuspidate ; racemes twelve to twenty-flowered, corymbose, 4in. to 

 6in. broad ; scape 3in. to 5in. long. March. I. five or six, linear, 



