194 



ONO 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



OPE 



38. Ononis Decumbens. Leaves ternate, linear, lanceo- 

 late; stem decumbent; flowers in axillary spikes; legumes 

 smooth. Perennial. The roots send forth several strong 

 branches, which spread, and incline towards the ground. 

 The flowers appear in loose panicles at the end of the 

 branches; they are yellow, and are succeeded by smooth 

 turgid pods, about half an inch long, each containing two 

 or three kidney-shaped seeds. It flowers in July, and the 

 seeds sometimes ripen here in the autumn. 



Onopordum.; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order Poly- 

 gamia jEqualis. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : common 

 roundish, ventricose, imbricate; scales numerous, spiny, pro- 

 minent every way. Corolla: compound tubular, uniform; 

 corollets hermaphrodite, equal; proper one-petalled, funnel- 

 form ; tube very slender ; border upright, ventricose, five- 

 cleft; segments equal, one more deeply serrated. Stamina: 

 tilarnenta five, capillary, very short; antheree cylindric, tubu- 

 lar, the length of the corolla, five-toothed. Pistil: germen 

 ovate ; style filiform, longer than the stamina ; stigma 

 crowned. Pericarp: none. Calix : slightly converging. 

 Seeds : solitary; down capillary, sessile. Receptacle: chaffy; 

 chaffs coadunate into the cells, truncate, mucronate, shorter 

 than the seeds. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Scales: mucro- 

 nate. Receptacle : honeycombed. Some of these plants 

 were formerly cultivated for the table, but it was before the 

 English gardens were well supplied with other esculent 

 plants : at present they are rarely eaten here. They require 

 no culture, and if the seeds are permitted to fall, they will 

 come up fast enough. The species are, 



1. Onopordum Acanthium; Woolly Onopordum, or Cotton 

 Thistle. Calices squarrose; scales spreading; leaves ovate, 

 oblong, sinuated. In the first year this plant puts out many 

 large downy leaves, sinuated on their edges, and very prickly"; 

 they spread on the ground, and continue the following winter. 

 In the spring the stalk rises in the middle of the leaves, upon 

 dunghills or good ground, growing five or six feet high, and 

 dividing at top into many branches, which have leafy bor- 

 ders running along them, indented, and each indenture ter- 

 minated by a spine. The stalks are terminated by scaly 

 heads of purple flowers, appearing in June; to these suc- 

 ceed oblong angular seeds, crowned with a hairy down. 

 This plant is distinguished from the Thistles by the recep- 

 tacle reticulated with square membranous cells, like a honey- 

 comb. When the flowering is over, the innermost scales of 

 the calix close strongly together. In the Thistles, as soon as 

 the seed is ripe, the first hot day opens the heads, extends 

 the pappus, and the least wind carries away the seeds : but 

 in this plant they remain shut up and strongly defended; nor 

 can they commit themselves to the earth, or be eaten by 

 birds, till long exposure to the weather has decayed the 

 calix, and on this account they afford sustenance to the 

 winged tribes late in the year. It is not very liable to the 

 depredations of insects; and is- defended by its strong spines 

 from the attacks of most quadrupeds : the ass alone will 

 sometimes browze upon it. The receptacle of the flowers, 

 and the tender stalks peeled and boiled, may be eaten in the 

 same manner as Artichokes and Cardoons. The ancients 

 thought this plant a specific in cancerous cases. Some of 

 the moderns recommend its use externally in a cancer of the 

 lips and face. Scopoli prescribes a decoction of the root as 

 a specific in a recent gonorrhoea.- It is good, as Hill 

 observes, if used when fresh, for the jaundice, dropsy, sup- 

 pressions of the menses, and other disorders arising from 

 obstructions. Besides the name given above, it is called 

 Oat Thistle, Wild White Thistle, Argentine or Silver Thistle; 

 in Yorkshire, Piy-leaves. 



2. Onopordum Illyricum; Illyrian Onopordum. Calices 

 squarrose; lower scales hooked; leaves lanceolate, -pinnatifid. 

 This rises with a stalk six or seven feet high, branched from its 

 base, broadly winged, and extremely spinous ; the leaves are 

 long and narrow, and the indentures.on their sides are regular, 

 ending in sharp spines. The heads of the flowers, which are 

 purple, are larger, and the spines of the calix are longer, 

 than those of the first sort. Native of the south of Europe, 

 and of Egypt, and the Levant. 



3. Onopordum Deltoides.; Siberian Onopordum. Calices 

 squarrose, cobwebbed, tomentose underneath. Perennial; 

 flowering in August. The leaves resemble those of Bur- 

 dock. Native of Siberia. 



4. Onopordum Arabicum; Arabian Onopordum. Calices 

 imbricated. This grows to the height of nine or ten feet 

 and the stalks divide into many branches. Flowers solitary, 

 erect, purple. Native of the south of Europe. 



5. Onopordum Greecum; Grecian Onopordum. Calices 

 squarrose, cobwebbed-tomentose ; leaves spiny, subulate- 

 lanceolate, sinuate, tomentose; corollas purple, very narrow. 

 Native of the Levant. 



6. Onopordum Acaulon; Dwarf Onopordum. Stemless: 

 root biennial, fusiform, half a foot long, straight, black, and 

 irregular on the outside ; stem single, not more than two 

 inches in height, erect, terminated by a sessile red and white 

 flower. Native of Greece: it flowers in July and August. 



7. Onopordum Orientale; Oriental Onopordum. Calices 

 squarrose; leaves oblong, pinnate-sinuate, decurrent; head 

 large; stalk upright, branching, seven or eight feet high. 

 It grows naturally near Aleppo in Syria. 



Onosma: a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five- 

 parted; segments lanceolate, erect, permanent. Corolla: 

 one-petalled, bell-shaped; tube very short; border tubular- 

 ventricose, a little thicker than the tube; mouth generally 

 five-cleft; throat naked, pervious. Stamina: filamenta five, 

 awl-shaped, very short; antheree sagittate, erect, the length 

 of the corolla. Pistil: germen four-parted; style filiform, 

 the length of the corolla; stigma blunt. Pericarp: none. 

 Calix: unchanged. Seeds: four, ovate. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Corolla : bc-11-shaped, with the throat pervious. 

 Seeds: four. The plants of this genus being natives of walls 

 or rocks, are best cultivated on a wall pr rubbish. Sow the 

 seeds soon after they are ripe, laying the stalks over the 

 place to shade them from the sun. When the plants are well 

 established, if they be permitted to scatter their seeds, they 

 will maintain themselves very well. In the common ground 

 they are short-lived, and apt to rot. The species are, 



1. Onosma Simplicissima; Simple- Onosma. Leaves clus- 

 tered, lanceolate, linear, hairy; flowering-top nodding, yel- 

 lowish white; corolla constantly white. The wild plant is 

 never more than a foot high, and soft to the touch. Native 

 of Siberia, abounding upon the calcareous rocks on the 

 janks of the \Volga, flowering from April to June. 



2. Onosma Orientalis; Oriental Onosma. Leaves lance- 

 olate, hispid; fruits pendulous; flowers on stalk*, yellow, in 

 a terminal double cluster. Native of the Levant. 



3. Onosma Echioides; Hairy Onosma. Leaves lanceolate, 

 nispid; fruits erect; root fusiform, with a bark peeling off in 

 scales, which are as red as vermilion. It flowers from March 

 to June. Native of the south of Europe, Italy, France, 

 Switzerland, Austria, and Hungary. 



Opercularia ; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Mono- 

 jynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Cnlix: common perianth, 

 one-leafed, bell-shaped, three to six flowered, six to nine 

 toothed; teeth acute, unequal, permanent; proper perianth, 



^ tttii^ 



