208 



OKI 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL 



O R I 



45. Orchis Fimbriata; Fringed Orchis. Horn of the 

 nectary longer than the germina ; lip three-parted, ciliary ; 

 petals spreading ; leaves oblong ; stem upright, smooth, from 

 ancipital acutely four-cornered; spike ovate oblong, many- 

 flowered ; flowers blue purple. Native of Canada and New- 

 foundland. 



***** Bulbs yet unknown. 



46. Orchis Phychodes. Horn of the nectary bristle- 

 shaped, the length of the germen ; lip three-parted, ciliary ; 

 spike long, close. Native of North America. 



47. Orchis Spectabilis. Horn of the nectary the length 

 of the germen ; lip oval, emarginate ; stem leafless ; leaves 

 oval ; spike of five or six flowers. Native of Virginia. 



48. Orchis Filicornis. Nectary bifid; horn capillary ; stem 

 half a foot high, and more, somewhat flexuose. Native of 

 the Cape. 



49. Orchis Tipuloides. Lip of the nectary three-parted, 

 linear, almost equal ; horn filiform, very long. Native of 

 Kamtschatka. 



50. Orchis Japonica. Horn of the nectary recurved ; lip 

 awl-shaped, entire ; stem somewhat angular, smooth, a span 

 high ; flowers many, in spikes, snow-white ; corolla three- 

 petalled, the two upper petals lateral. 'Native of Japan. 



51. Orchis Falcata. Horn filiform, very long; leaves 

 ensit'orm, channelled, sickle-shaped ; root-leave* several, 

 equidistant, ensiform, convoluted, revolute-sickled, smooth, 

 a finger's length, the lower ones shorter; flowers in spikes, 

 Native of Nagasaki, in the mountains, among shrubs. 



52. Orchis Orbicuiata. Labellum linear, very entire, 

 somewhat obtuse ; petals three, superior, approaching, two 

 lateral, patent, oblique at the base ; horn longer than the 

 germen ; scape diphyllous at the base ; leaves plain, orbicu- 

 late. Grows in shady beech-woods on the mountains of 

 Pennsylvania and Virginia. Two leaves of a fleshy texture 

 are spread flat on the ground, between which rises the stalk 

 about a foot or eighteen inches high, which bears a loose 

 spike of greenish-white flowers. It is known in the moun- 

 tains by the name of Heal-all- 



53. Orchis Dilatata. Labellum linear, very entire, some- 

 what obtuse, subrotundate-dilatate at the base ; horn of the 

 length of the labellum ; germen shorter; bractes of the length 

 of the flowers ; stem leafy. Grows in Labrador. 



54. Orchis Lacera. Labellum tripartite ; segments sub- 

 ili<ritate-filiform ; horn nearly equalling the germen ; flowers 

 alternate, greenish white. Grows in low meadows from 

 Pennsylvania to Virginia. 



55. Orchis Quinqueseta. Labellum tripartite ; segments 

 setaceous ; horn twice the length of the germen ; flowers in 

 a loose spike, alternate, distant; bractes acuminate; leaves 

 iivute, acute. Grows in the sandy low fields of Virginia and 

 Carolina, on the side of swamps. 



56. Orchis Discolor. Labellum tripartite, longer than the 

 petals ; lateral segments short, acute ; horn filiform, and half 

 as long again as the germen ; leaf solitary, radical, ovate- 

 cordate. Grows in pine-barrens from New Jersey to South 

 Carolina. 



57. Orchis Obtusata. Labellum linear, very entire, longer, 

 than the horn; horn of the length of the germen; leaf soli- 

 tary, radical, subcuneiform-obtuse. Grows about Hudson's 

 Bay, near Fort Albany. A small species. 



58. Orchis Rotundifolia. Labellum trifid ; hoTn shorter 

 than the germen ; leaves oval, subrotund. Native of Hud- 

 son's Bay. 



Origanum ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Gym- 

 nospermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix - involucre 

 spiked, composed of imbricate, ovate, coloured bractes ; 



perianth unequal, various. Corolla: one-petalled, ringent; 

 tube cylindrical, compressed; upper lip erect, flat, blunt, 

 emarginate ; lower trifid, the segments almost equal. Sta- 

 mina: filamenta four, filiform, the length of the corolla, of 

 which two are longer ; antherse simple. Pistil : germen 

 superior, four-cleft; style filiform, inclined to the upper lip 

 of the corolla ; stigma very slightly bifid. Pericarp : none ; 

 calix converging, fostering the seeds at bottom. Seeds: 

 four, ovate. Observe. The involucre of the calix constitutes 

 the essential character of the genus. The perianth is in some 

 almost equal, five-toothed ; in others two-lipped, the upper 

 lip large, entire, the lower scarcely any ; in others two-leaved. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. /Strobile: tour-cornered, spiked, 

 with one leaf to each calix. The species are, 



1. Origanum ./Egyptiacum ; Egyptian Marjoram. Leaves 

 fleshy, tomentose ; spikes naked. This is a perennial plant, 

 with a low shrubby stalk, seldom rising more than a foot and 

 half high, and dividing into branches. The flowers are pro- 

 duced in roundish spikes, closely joined together at the top 

 of the stalks, and at the end of the small side-branches; they 

 are of a pale flesh colour, peeping out of their scaly cover- 

 ings. Hasselquist informs us, that this plant is cultivated in 

 the gardens at Grand Cairo on account of the smell, which 



' is stronger than that of Dittany of Crete. Native of Egypt, 

 where it flowers from June to August. It is increased by 

 slips or cuttings planted in a border of good earth in any of 

 the summer months, shaded and duly watered. Plant them 

 in small pots filled with light kitchen-garden mould, when 

 they are well rooted, and place them in the shade till they 

 have taken new root; then remove them to an open situation 

 till the end of October, when they must be placed under 

 shelter, in a hot-bed frame, where they may be protected from 

 hard frost, and have as much free air as possible in mild 

 weather; they will thrive better than if more tenderly 

 treated. 



2. Origanum Dictammis; Dittany of Crete or Candia. 

 Lower leaves tomentose; spikes nodding; stalks hairy, about 

 nine inches high, of a purplish colour, sending out small 

 branches from the' sides by pairs. The whole plant has a 

 piercing aromatic scent, and biting taste. The flowers are 

 collected in loose leafy heads of a purple colour, and nod- 

 ding; they are small, and the stamina stand out beyond the 

 corolla. The fabulous qualities attributed to Dictamnus by 

 the ancients, may be seen in Virgil, .Ere.ixii. v. 412. and in 

 Cicero de Natura Deorum; the former is most elegantly 

 translated by Dryden in his version of Virgil, and will not 

 fail to please every English reader of taste. It flowers from 

 June to August; and is a native of rocks in Crete. To pro- 

 pagate this plant, set slips or cuttings in pots, in a shady 

 border, covering them close with a bell or hand glass, and 

 now and then refreshing them with a moderate quantity of 

 water. In the following spring some of the plants may be 

 shaken out of the pots, and planted in a warm border in a 

 dry soil, where they will live through common winters ; but 

 being liable to be killed by severe frost, it will be prudent 

 to reserve a few in pots, to' be sheltered during the severity 

 of winter. The leaves are kept by the druggists, and have 

 been greatly celebrated for their efficacy in the cure of 

 wounds. Whether they possess any particular virtues of 

 that kind, we cannot pretend to determine ; they ate how- 

 ever good in nervous disorders, weakness of the stomach, and 

 suppression of the menstrual discharge. 



3. Origanum Sipyleum ; Dittany of Mount Sipylus. 

 Leaves ovate, acute, all smooth ; spikes nodding. This has 

 a perennial root, but an annual stalk. The root is composed 

 of many slender woody fibres. The stalks are slender, and 



