2340 



OMPHALEA 



ONCIDIUM 



rooted with heat. 0. tridndra, Linn., Cos-NuT, POP- 

 NXJT, PiG-NuT, with oblong obtuse Ivs. and yellow fr. 

 \y<i in. thick, has been cult, in Eu. The blackening 

 juice of the fr. has been used in ink and the nuts eaten 

 after removal of the poisonous embryo. W. Indies. 

 L.B.C. 6:519. O. megacdrpa, Hemsl., with lanceolate, 

 acute Ivs., is native and cult, in the W. Indies, the 

 large seeds, HUNTER' s-NtJT, being eaten as a nutrient 

 and stimulant. H.I. 2537. O. didndra, Linn., with 

 broad ovate or oblong Ivs., or a related species, has been 

 intro. from the mountains of Colombia, where the oily 

 seed is eaten and fed to hogs. j g g NORTON. 



OMPHALODES (Greek, navel-shaped; referring to 

 the seeds). Boraginacese. NAVELWORT. Flower-garden 

 and border plants, something like forget-me-not, not 

 often seen in American gardens. 



Annual or perennial herbs of low growth, glabrous or 

 sparsely and minutely villous: root-lvs. long-stalked, 

 lanceolate, ovate or cordate; st.-lvs. few, alternate: 

 racemes lax, with or without a leafy bract at the base; 

 calyx 5-parted; corolla-tube very short; lobes 5, imbri- 

 cated, broad, obtuse; stamens 5, affixed to the tube, 

 included; ovary 4-lobed. From Myosotis it differs in 

 having depressed nutlets and nearly horizontal seeds, 

 while in the forget-me-not genus the nutlets are ovoid, 

 and the seeds erect. Since the cult, material is doubtful, 

 the descriptions given below are adapted mostly from 

 DeCandolle's Prodromus, vol. 10 (1846), with which 

 the pictures cited agree rather poorly. The genus here 

 characterized has the limits understood by Bentham & 

 Hooker, and by Gray. About two dozen species, 

 native to the Medit. region, Cent. Asia, and Japan; 

 also in Mex. and sparingly in W. U. S. (the latter by 

 some referred to Eritrichium). For 0. longiflora, see 

 Ldndelophia. The group to which Omphalodes belongs 

 is variously understood by botanists. 



Of this genus a few low-growing hardy herbs are 

 cultivated, with flowers much like those of forget-me- 

 not, but larger and usually with a white five-pointed 

 star dividing the corolla-lobes. The flowers are often 

 more or less pinkish, particularly toward the center. 

 They like moist situations, but in deep shade grow too 

 luxuriantly; also the flowers are fewer and of a weaker 

 blue. Partial shade or full sunlight is preferable. The 

 commonest kind is the "creeping forget-me-not," 0. 

 verna, which is a spring-blooming perennial of easy 

 culture, producing runners freely and easily propagated 

 by division. It can be grown by the yard in a rockery 

 and can be easily naturalized in wild moist half- 

 shaded spots. It is also good for fringing walks. It is 

 said to like best a cool, moist loam, with a few bits of 

 sandstone among which the roots may ramble and 

 from which they may derive coolness and moisture. 

 Perhaps the choicest kind is O. Lucilise, also a spring- 

 blooming perennial, but of tufted habit and impatient 

 of division. It is a native of Asia Minor at a height of 

 8,000 feet, and grows in fissures of vertical cliffs. It is 

 said to like a loose limestone soil, deep and well drained. 

 When once established it self-sows. 0. linifolia is a 

 summer-blooming annual of easy culture. O. verna has 

 a white-flowered kind, which is pretty but to most 

 persons lacks the interest of a blue-flowered forget- 

 me-not. 



A. Plant a summer-blooming annual. 



linifolia, Moanch. Erect, slightly glaucous, 1 ft. high: 

 radical Ivs. wedge-shaped; st.-lvs. linear-lanceolate, 

 margin remotely ciliate: corolla twice as long as the 

 calyx: nutlets dentate, inflexed at the margin. Dry, 

 stony hills of Spain and Portugal. June-Sept. Accord- 

 ing to DeCandolle, the fls. are normally white, and it is 

 var. caerulescens, DC., which has bluish fls., sometimes 

 tinged with rose. This interesting species belongs to a 

 group of Omphalodes in which the nutlets are affixed 

 laterally and lengthwise to the style which is pyrami- 

 dal and has a square base. 



AA. Plants perennials, mostly spring-blooming. 

 verna, Moench. CREEPING FORGET-ME-NOT. Stolo- 

 niferous perennial: flowering-st. erect: Ivs. sparsely 

 puberulous; radical ones long-petioled, ovate or sub- 

 cordate; st.-lvs. short-petioled, sublanceolate; all Ivs. 

 acuminate, callous at the apex: fls. borne in pairs in a 

 raceme. April, May. Eu. B.M. 7 (as Cynoglossum 

 Omphalodes). Gn. 26, p. 315; 40:150; 72, p. 240 

 Fls. light blue, according to DeCandolle. Var. alba, 

 Hort., is also offered. 



Luciliae, Boiss. Glabrous, tufted perennial: Ivs. 

 oblong, obtuse, the radical Ivs. narrowed into a long 

 petiole, the st.-lvs. sessile, upper ones ovate: pedicels 

 longer than the nearest floral If., erect, then arcuate- 

 recurved: fls. blue; calyx-lobes ovate-oblong, somewhat 

 obtuse, about one-fourth as long as the pedicels; corolla 

 broadly funnel-shaped, about four times as long as the 

 calyx: nutlets with an entire membranaceous margin. 

 Mt. Sypilus near Manesis, and in Cilicia near Gulf of 

 Scanderoon, at 8,000 ft. B.M. 6047 (some fls. light 

 blue, others pinkish purple, all with a white eye). Gn. 

 27: 194; 69 p. 283. G.C. III. 40:53. G. 28:413. Fls. 

 about Kin. across, twice as large as those of 0. verna. 



cornifdlia, Lehm. (0. cappadodca, DC.). Perennial 

 herb, 6-8 in. high, sometimes grown as an alpine, with 

 variable but usually cordate-lanceolate Ivs. which are 

 silky-hairy and with prominent arching veins: fls. 

 about }^in. across, clear rich blue with small white eye, 

 in loose erect cymes. Asia Minor. G.C. III. 53:380. 



nitida, Hoffm. & Link. Perennial, with erect branch- 

 ing glabrous sts. : Ivs. oblong-lanceolate, glabrous and 

 shining above, pubescent beneath, the lower ones long- 

 petioled and the upper ones sessile: fls. sky-blue with 

 white center, in very long bractless racemes, the 

 pedicels and calyx pilose. Portugal. Said to be a 

 plant of neat habit for half -shady moist places. 



O. florariensis, Corr., is a garden hybrid between O. Luciliae and 

 O. nitida (H. Correvon, Floraire, Geneva, Switzerland). 



WILHELM MILLER. 

 L. H. B.f 



ONCIDIODA (compounded from Oncidium and 

 Cochlioda}. Orchidacese. A genus established to con- 

 tain the hybrids between Oncidium and Cochlioda. 



0. Chdrlesworthii (O. incurvum x C. Noetzliana) has 

 the infl. of the former, the fls. scarlet and lavender. 

 F.E. 33:499. 0. cinnabarlna=O. monachicum x C. 

 Noetzliana. 0. Cooksonise=O. macranthum x C. 

 Noetzliana. 0. Mauricii^O. tigrinumxC. vulcanica. 

 G.C. III. 55:326. GEORGE V. NASH. 



ONCIDIUM (Greek, a tubercle; alluding to the crest 

 on the labellum). Orchidacese. Epiphytal orchids for 

 greenhouse growing. 



Pseudobulbs usually present, wanting hi a few spe- 

 cies, 1-2-lvd., with sheathing Ivs. at the base: Ivs. plane, 

 terete or triangular: petals like the dorsal sepal but 

 often much larger; lateral sepals either free or par- 

 tially united; labellum variable, but never with its base 

 parallel to the column (Odontoglossum), spreading 

 nearly at right angles to the column; column short, 

 winged. A broad genus with over 300 species distribu- 

 ted in Mex., Cent, and Trop. Amer., and in the W. 

 Indies. In range of altitude the genus extends from the 

 hot coast regions to elevations of 12,000 ft. in the 

 Andes. The fls. of this genus show a remarkable 

 diversity of form. In 0. varicosum, 0. tigrinum and 

 related species, the labellum is greatly developed, 

 forming the most conspicuous part of the fl., while in 

 0. serratum and 0. macranthum it is inconspicuous. The 

 sepals and petals vary in size in relation to each other 

 and to the rest of the fl. A remarkable example is 0. 

 Papilio, in which the petals and dorsal sepal have been 

 transformed into linear-erect segms., recalling, on a 

 large scale, the antenna? of some insect. The general 

 habit of the plants is no less variable than the fls. They 



