214 



ORO 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



ORO 



flowers from two to four or five in a thin spike, on naked, 

 slender, axillary peduncles ; corolla beautiful reddish purple, 

 turning blue as it goes off. The Highlanders of Scotland 

 have great esteem for the tubercles of the root ; they dry 

 and chew them in general, to give a bitter relish to their 

 liquor ; and believe them to be good for most disorders of the 

 thorax, and that the use of them enables to repel hunger and 

 thirst for a long time. In Breadalbane and Ross-shire, they 

 sometimes bruise and steep them in water, and make an 

 agreeable fermented liquor with them. They have a sweet 

 taste, something like the roots of liquorice, and when boiled 

 are well-flavoured and nutritive, having served m times of 

 Scarcity as a substitute for bread. The Erse name for it is 

 Cor-meille; the English call it Wood-Pea, Heath-Pea, and 

 Heath- Peaseling. The flowers appear in May and June, 

 and sometimes in April : the seed ripens in July. Native of 

 woods in most parts of Europe, and. growing principally in 

 a strong clayey soil. 



6. Orobus Angustifolius ; Narrow-leaved Bitter Vetch. 

 Leaves two-paired, ensiform, subsessile; stipules subulate; 

 stem simple. This has the habit of the preceding species, 

 but the leaves are ensiform, lanceolate, with two or three pairs 

 of opposite leaflets without any tendril ; flowers few, yellow, 

 in racemes. Native of Siberia. 



7. Orobus Albus; White Bitter Vetch. Leaves two-paired, 

 ensiform, petioled ; stipules simple ; stem simple ; roots tube- 

 rous, sessile. Native of Austria. 



8. Orobus Canescens ; Hoary Bitter Vetch. Stem branch- 

 ed ; leaves two-paired, linear ; stipule's semi-sagittate, awl- 

 shaped ; flowers white with a tinge of blue. Native of 

 barren pastures in the south of France, and the Levant 



9. Orobus Niger ; Black Bitter Vetch. Stem branched ; 

 leaves six-paired, ovate, oblong. Root perennial, strong, 

 woody; stems many, branching, two feet high, angular, 

 having one pinnate leaf at each joint, composed of five or six 

 small, oblong, oval, leaflets ; flowers on very long axillary 

 peduncles, having four, five, or six purple flowers at the top. 

 It |turns black in drying; and hence the trivial name. It 

 flowers from May to July, and is found in the woods and 

 among the bushes in most parts of Europe, from Sweden to 

 Greece, but not in Great Britain. 



10. Orobus Pyrenaicus ; Pyreneun Bitter Vetch. Stem 

 branched ; leaves two-paired, lanceolate, nerved ; stipules 

 somewhat thorny; flowers directed one way, pendulous. 

 Native of the south of Europe. 



11. Orobus Sylvaticus ; Wood Bitter Vetch. Stems decum- 

 bent, hirsute, branched ; leaves pinnate, with numerous 

 ovate-lanceolate hairy leaflets. From the roots arise nume- 

 rous procumbent stems, much branched, and even, the 

 younger shoots but slightly hairy; roots thick, woody, peren- 

 nial, with a leguminous taste ; flowers six, seven, or more, 

 on the same common peduncle, pendulous, on slender pedi- 

 cels, reddish on the outside, white with purple veins within. 

 It flowers from May to July. Native of France and Eng- 

 land, It has been found in abundance about six miles from 

 Penrith, on the way to Newcastle; and in Wales below 

 Brecknock-hills, in the way to Caerdiff; and in Merioneth- 

 shire, not far from Bala ; and also in Denbighshire. In 

 Scotland it has been met with on the Tweed, half-a-mile 

 below the Buld; in the woods about Airly Castle ; on the 

 banks of the Clyde, near Lanark ; and in the isle of Rum ; 

 it has also been seen near Ross-Trevor in Ireland. 



12. Orobus Venetus; Venetian Bitter Vetch. Leaves pin- 

 nate, ovate, acute, four-paired; stem simple; root perennial. 

 The flowers appear in March or April, and the seeds some- 

 times ripen in May. Native of Italy. 



13. Orobus Americanus ; American Bitter Vetch. Leaves 

 pinnate, linear-lanceolate, tomentose underneath. Stem very 

 much branched, frutescent. The flowers grow in loose spikes 

 at the end of the branches ; they are of a pale purple colour, 

 and are succeeded by smooth compressed pods, an inch and 

 hali long, each containing five or six roundish seeds. Na- 

 tive of Jamaica. This, and the three following species, being 

 natives of hot countries, are tender, and must be preserved 

 in stoves, otherwise they will not live in England. They are 

 propagated by seeds, which should be sown early in the 

 spring in small pots filled with light rich earth, and plunged 

 into a hot-bed of tanner's bark ; observing frequently to 

 moisten the earth, otherwise the seeds will not grow. When 

 the plants come up, they should be carefully taken out of 

 the pots, and each transplanted into separate small pots 

 filled with rich earth, and then plunged again into the tan- 

 bed, observing to shade them until they have taken root ; 

 after which they should have fresh air admitted to them every 

 day in warm weather, and must be frequently watered : with 

 this management* the plants will make a great progress. 

 When any of the plants are grown too tall to remain in the 

 hot-bed, they should be taken out and plunged into the bark- 

 bed in the stove, where they may have room to grow, espe- 

 cially the thirteenth and fourteenth sorts ; but the other two 

 being of humbler growth, may be kept in the hot-bed until 

 Michaelmas, when the nights begin to be cold; at which 

 time they should be removed into the stove, and plunged 

 into the bark-bed, where they must be treated as other tender 

 exotic plants ; by which method they may be preserved 

 through the winter, and the following summer they will pro- 

 duce flowers. These plants being perennial, if they should 

 not perfect their seeds, may be maintained for several years. 



14. Orobus Argenteus ; Silvery Bitter Vetch. Leaves pin- 

 nate, oblong-ovate, silky underneath. Stem erect, tomen- 

 tose. The flowers are iu terminating spikes ; they are of a 

 deep purple colour, and are succeeded by long woolly com- 

 pressed pods, each containing four or five seeds. Native of 

 La Vera Cruz. 



15. Orobus Procumbens ; Procumbent Bitter Vetch. 

 Leaves pinnate ; outer leaflets larger, tomentose ; stem pro- 

 cumbent. This is a low plant ; the flowers come out in small 

 bunches, standing upon short axillary peduncles ; they are 

 small, and of a bright purple colour, and are succeeded by 

 compressed pods nearly two inches long, each having six or 

 seven roundish compressed seeds. Native of La Vera Cruz. 



16. Orobus Coccineus; Scarlet Bitter Vetch. Leaves 

 pinnate ; leaflets linear, villose. Stem procumbent ; flowers 

 axillary and terminating ; root woody, thick, sending out 

 many slender stalks a foot and half long, trailing upon the 

 ground : the flowers come out from the side and at the end 

 of the stalks, three or four standing upon a short foot-stalk ; 

 they are small, and of a scarlet colour, and are succeeded by 

 short taper pods, each containing three orfour small roundish 

 seeds. Native of La Vera Cruz. 



Orontium ; a genus of the class Hexandria, order Mono- 

 gynia: GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: spadix cylindrical 

 quite simple, covered with florets; spathe none ; perianth 

 none, (unless the corolla be so called.) Corolla : petals six, 

 peltate, roundish, angular, permanent. Stamina : filamenta 

 six, very short, ensiform within each petal ; antheree twin, 

 oblong. Pistil: germen roundish, depressed; style none; 

 stigma roundish, bifid. Pericarp: follicle slender, immersed 

 with the corolla in the spadix. Seed: single, round, fungose. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Spadix: cylindrical, covered 

 with florets. Corolla: six-petalled, naked. Style: none. 

 Follicles : one-seeded. The species are, 



