220 



OTH 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



OX A 



large, terminating from the dichotomy, on a one-flowered 

 peduncle, twice as long as the leaves, and round ; corolla 

 yellow. The whole plant has a smell like turpentine. 

 Native of the Cape. 



9. Othonna Ciliata. Leaves pinnatifid, sessile; pinnas 

 ovate, ciliat,e; peduncles terminating, elongated, one-flowered. 

 Native of the Cape. 



10. Othonna Pinnata. Leaves pinnatifid ; pinnas lanceo- 

 late, quite entire, decurrent. Native of the Cape. 



1 1 . Othonna Trifurcata. Leaves trifid, pinnatifid ; pinnas 

 1 inear ; peduncles lateral, fastigiate. Native of the Cape. 



12. Othonna Munita. Leaves pinnatifid, imbricated, 

 curved inwards; pinnas three-sided, awl-shaped; stem dicho- 

 tomous ; peduncles from the divarications. This resembles 

 the twenty-third species. Native of the Cape. 



13. Othonna Coronopifolia; Buckthorn-leaved African 

 Ragwort. Lower leaves lanceolate, quite entire, upper sinu- 

 ate, toothed. This rises with a shrubby stalk four or five 

 feet high, dividing into several branches ; the flowers are 

 produced in loose umbels at the ends of the branches, and 

 are yellow. It flowers from July to September. Native of 

 the Cape. 



14. Othonna Cheirifolia; Stock-leaved African Ragwort. 

 Leaves lanceolate, three- nerved, quite entire; stem suffru- 

 ticose, creeping. This has a strong fibrous root, which shoots 

 deep in the ground, and sends out many woody stems, which 

 spread on every side. Although it is a native of Africa, it 

 will live in the open air, in a warm situation and a dry soil. 



15. Othonna Crassifolia; Thick-leaved African Ragwort. 

 Leaves lanceolate, quite entire, somewhat fleshy ; stem up- 

 right. The flowers are produced towards the end of the 

 branches, upon succulent peduncles about four inches long, 

 each sustaining one yellow flower, which appears in August, 

 and there is a succession till winter. Linneus remarks, that 

 it resembles the preceding species. Native of the Cape. , 



16. Othonna Parvifolia; Small-flowered African Ragwort. 

 Leaves lanceolate, glaucous, embracing; flowers panicled ; 

 stem shrubby, two feet high, even ; peduncles very long, 

 even, stiff, straight. Native of the Cape. 



17. Othonna Tenuissima ; Fine-leaved African Ragwort. 

 Leaves filiform, fleshy ; stem from a foot to two feet high 

 and more, even. Native of the Cape. 



18. Othonna Linifolia; Flax-leaved African Ragwort. 

 Herbaceous: leaves linear, margined, grassy; stem a span 

 high, filiform, even, with one or two-flowered branches. 

 Native of the Cape. 



19. Othonna Digitata; Digitate-leaved African Ragwort. 

 Leaves oblong, undivided, or digitate-toothed ; peduncles 

 one-flowered ; root bulbous. Native of the Cape. 



20. Othonna Lingua. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, half- 

 embracing ; root bulbous. Native of the Cape. 



21. Othonna Lateriflora; Side-flowering African Ragwort. 

 Leaves lanceolate; flowers lateral; peduncles the length of 

 the leaves. This is an upright shrub, with the stem the size 

 of a swan's quill. Native of the Cape. 



22. Othonna Heterophylla. Root-leaves ovate, angular- 

 toothed ; stem-leaves lanceolate, almost entire ; root bulbous. 

 Native of the Cape. 



23. Othonna Ericoides ; Heathlike African Ragwort. 

 Stem dichotomous, imbricated; leaflets acerose; peduncle 

 very long, solitary from the divarications; flower roundish, 

 not large. Native of the Cape. 



24. Othonna Capillaris ; Capillary -branclied African Rag- 

 wort. Leaves lyrate ; branches capillary; root fibrous, very 

 slender; stems upright, a palm high, filiform, with the 

 branches finally setaceous and capillaceous, even ; flowers 



terminating, the size of hemp-seed, yellow. Native of the 

 Cape. 



25. Othonna Virginia. Leaves wedged, gashed ; stem 

 shrubby, compound, erect, round. Native of the Cape. 



26. Othonna Frutescens ; S/irubby African Ragwort. 

 Leaves oval, somewhat toothed; stem frutescent. This is 

 allied to the next species, from which it differs in having 

 remote toothed leaves, not clustered, and quite entire, as in 

 that; the stem without any hairy scars of the leaves; the 

 ray eight-petalled, not five-petalled; the stem round, with 

 smooth branches; the peduncles somewhat branched. 

 Native of the Cape. 



27. Othonna Arborescens ; Tree African Ragwort. Leaves 

 oblong, quite entire ; stem arborescent, fleshy, with woolly 

 scars. Native of the Cape. This plant makes very slow 

 progress here : in August it puts out young leaves, which 

 it, keeps all the winter; the heads of flowers appear about 

 the end of November, and do not ripen till the middle or 

 end of January ; in spring the leaves gradually drop off, and 

 the plant appears as if dead, till the succeeding autumn. 



Ovieda; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, five-cleft, bell-shaped, acute, erect, broadish, short, 

 permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, ringent, funnel-form, 

 (trifid, according to Gsertner ;) tube very long, narrow, sub- 

 cylindric ; border short, three-lobed, (or five-lobed,) almost 

 equal. Stamina: filamenta four, thread-shaped, longer than 

 the corolla; antherse roundish. Pistil: germen superior, 

 globular; style filiform, the length of the stamina; stigma 

 bifid, acute. Pericarp: berry globular, one-celled, quadri- 

 partile, placed upon the calix, enlarged, bell-shaped, erect. 

 Seeds : four, gibbous on one side, angular on the other, one- 

 celled. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : five-cleft. Co- 

 rolla : tube subcylindric, superior, very long ; border three- 

 lobed, or three-cleft. Berry: globular, one-celled, quadri- 

 partite, four-seeded. The species are, 



1. Ovieda Spinosa. Leaves oval, toothed. This is a 

 shrub, with the flowers terminating, corymbed, subsessile 

 among the terminating leaves ; berries black : they ripen in 

 May. Native of South America and Hispaniola. 



2. Ovieda Mitis. Leaves lanceolate, subrepand. This is 

 a smooth unarmed shrub. Native of Java. 



Oxalis ; a genus of the class Decandria, order Pentagynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER.' Calix: perianth five-parted, 

 acute, very short, permanent. Corolla: petals five, often 

 cohering by the claws, erect, obtuse, emarginate ; border 

 spreading. Stamina: filamenta ten, capillary, (Jacquin says 

 awl-shaped,) erect, the outer ones shorter ; antheroe roundish, 

 grooved. Pistil : germen five-cornered, superior ; styles 

 five, filiform, the length of the stamina ; stigma blunt. Pen- 

 carp: capsule five-cornered, five-celled, ten-valved, (accord- 

 ing to Jacquin, five-valved,) gaping at the corners longitu- 

 dinally. Seeds: roundish, flying out, covered with a fleshy 

 elastic aril. Observe. The capsule in some short, with 

 solitary seeds ; in others long, with many seeds : the filamenta 

 of most coalesce at the base. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix: five-parted. Petals: five, often connected at the base. 

 Capsule : five-celled, five-cornered, opening at the corners. 

 Seeds : arilled. The European and North American sorts 

 require no particular culture ; the numerous species from the 

 Cape of Good Hope must be planted in pots, which may be 

 sheltered in the dry-stove or under a hot-bed frame in win 

 ter, where they may have as much free air as possible in mild 

 weather. Most of them may be easily increased by offsets 

 from the roots or bulbs which come out from the side of the 

 stalks in great abundance. Those from the East and West 



