2354 



ONOPORDON 



ONOSMA 



solitary terminal heads, the infl. usually arachnose, as 

 are the erect irivolucral bracts. Medit. region. B.M. 

 3299. A showy biennial with purplish red fls. 



BB. Sts. mostly much branched, the heads corymbose or 

 paniculate (solitary at the end of the peduncles in 

 O. Acanthium). 



Acanthium, Linn. SCOTCH THISTLE. Biennial, vigor- 

 ous, much-branched, 3-9 ft. high: Ivs. oblong, lobed and 

 dentate, acute, the lower often 1 ft. long, cottony white, 

 spiny: heads of pale purple fls. lJ^-2 in. across, borne 

 singly on the branches. July-Sept. B.B. 3:491. Gn. 

 46, p. 9; 68, p. 157. G.W. 7, p. 425. R.B. 20, p. 200 

 The Scotch thistle is often called the cotton thistle; 

 sometimes also Argentine, asses', down, oat, Queen 

 Mary's or silver thistle. It is apparently not advertised 

 in Amer., but is sometimes cult, for "auld lang syne," 

 and occasionally it is used with striking effect by some 

 lover of hardy plants. It is then placed against a back- 

 ground of dark shrubbery, which sets off the silvery 

 foliage and bold habit. The plant is rarely found grow- 

 ing wild in the Atlantic States, having come from Eu. 

 The Scotch thistle will probably never be a weed of the 

 first importance in Amer., as is the Canada thistle. 

 Nevertheless, care should be taken not to let it go to 

 seed. A white-fld. Scotch thistle, var. alba, Hort.. 

 was advertised in Germany in 1894 as a horticultural 

 novelty. Gt. 45, p. 107. 



tauricum, Willd. An ornamental plant of tall stately 

 growth and many-headed infl.: st. white-hairy: Ivs. 

 somewhat decurrent, elliptic-oblong, the margins wavy 

 and spinose; involucral bracts ovate-lanceolate, the 

 tips subulate. Russia and S. Eu. G.W. 7, p. 425. 

 Perfectly hardy and only recently intro. 



polycephalum, Bpiss. A densely tomentose, tall- 

 stemmed biennial with grooved sts. and a many-headed 

 corymb of showy fls.: Ivs. somewhat lobed, spiny- 

 margined, diminishing in the infl.: involucral bracts 

 pale, all erect, lanceolate. 



AA. Involucral bracts (outer') recurved. 

 bracteatum, Boiss. & Heldr. A tall tomentose much- 

 branched biennial: lower Ivs. oblong-lanceolate, the 

 shallow lobes and often the margins tipped with yellow 

 stout spines; cauline Ivs. much smaller, decurrent, 

 diminishing in the infl. to start short bracts: heads large, 

 globose, the outside involucral bracts recurved. E. 

 Medit. region. Probably not hardy northward. 



O. Salteri, Hort. "Plant pyramidal in habit, about 5 ft. high, 

 silvery shining. Lowest Ivs. widely spreading on the ground, 

 incised, spiny, upper reduced." Country unknown. 



N. TAYLOR.f 



ONOSERIS (asses' salad; significance not evident). 

 Including Isdtypus. Compdsitse. Some twenty herbs 

 or shrubs, mostly Andean, but also in Mexico and 

 southeastern Brazil, grown rarely indoors and out for 

 the large purple, pinkish or white flower-heads; allied 

 to Mutisia, but it has no close relatives of much horti- 

 cultural importance. 



Plants of various habit, mostly erect, sometimes 

 annual, some species almost stemless: Ivs. radical and 

 cauline, white-tomentose beneath: heads large, hetero- 

 gamous, solitary or panicled, the peduncles or scapes 

 usually long and more or less bracted; ray-florets pis- 

 tillate in one series (heads discoid in 0. Isotypus) ; disk- 

 florets usually hermaphrodite and fertile; involucre 

 hemispherical or top-shaped, the bracts linear, imbri- 

 cate and in many series, the exterior ones gradually 

 shorter. They appear to require no special cult, treat- 

 ment; prop, by seeds. 



O. adprissa. Less. (Centroclinium adpressum, Hook.). Little 

 shrub, blooming under cult, at 1 and 2 ft., with woolly branches: 

 Ivs. lanceolate, reflexed, 3 in. or more long, nearly entire but 

 undulate: peduncle solitary and terminal or becoming lateral by 

 elongation of other shoots; head solitary, large, fragrant; rays long 

 and narrow, about 8, rose-purple. Peru. B.M. 3115. O. Drakeana, 

 AndrS. Woody, little branched, often weak: Ivs. alternate, ovate, 

 lanceolate or hastate, entire or shallowly dentate: peduncles scape- 



like, 1-headed, with few bracts; rays violet, about 20, showy. 

 Colombia. R.H. 1883:180. O, Isotypus, Benth. & Hook. (Isoty- 

 pus onoseroides, HBK. Caloseris rupestris, Benth.). Showy shrub 

 3-5 ft. high, the branches white-lanate: Ivs. long-petioled, large, 

 broadly hastate-cordate, 5-8 in. long, acute, sinuate-lobed and 

 dentate, 3-5-nerved, the petioles 6-10 in. long: heads about 1 in. 

 long in a terminal panicle, the corolla red and scarcely exceeding 

 the involucre. S. Mex. Guatemala. G.W. 12, p. 11. O. pur- 

 purata, Willd. Nearly stemless perennial: Ivs. radical, lyrate, the 

 terminal lobe large and deltoid-hastate and dentate: scape branched 

 at middle, 3-headed, the rays purple and short. Colombia. O. 

 reflexa, Less. (Centroclinium reflexum, Hook.). Woolly branched, 

 about 2 ft., probably annual: Ivs. ovate-lanceolate. 2-3 in. long, 

 coarsely toothed and acute: peduncle solitary, terminal or from 

 upper axils, with many small bracts: heads large and handsome, 

 fragrant; rays 9-12, very narrow, rose-purple. Peru. B.M. 3114. 



L. H. B. 



ONOSMA (onos, an ass, and osme, smell; the odor 

 reputed to be liked by that animal). GOLDEN DROP. 

 Boraginacese. Outdoor or border plants, grown for the 

 small pretty flowers. 



Bristly hardy perennial, annual and biennial herbs 

 or undershrubs, with long narrow alternate Ivs. and 

 1-sided simple or cymose bracted racemes: fls. yellow, 

 purple, or white, tube-like, or urn-shaped, sessile or 

 with short pedicel, with 5 very short corolla-lobes; 

 calyx 5-parted or cut; corolla-throat dilated or con- 

 tracted; stamens 5, inserted midway on corolla-tube, 

 mostly included; ovary with 4 distinct lobes, the style 

 filiform and stigma small: nutlets 4 or fewer, erect or 

 incurved, smooth and. shining or less frequently tuber- 

 culate. Species 70, Medit. region and the Himalayas. 

 They are adapted to borders and rock-gardens; of 

 simple cult, requirements. The perennial kinds are 

 increased by cuttings in summer, in a frame; the annuals 

 and biennials by seeds. Most of the cult, species do not 

 ordinarily much exceed 1 ft. in height and many of 

 them are lower than that. 



echioides, Linn. Biennial or perennial strigose herb, 

 from a red root, blooming in spring, erect or rarely 

 branched, 6-9 in. high or more : Ivs. spatulate or linear- 

 lanceolate, sessile, becoming cordate above; floral Ivs. 

 lanceolate to nearly ovate-lanceolate: fls. pale yellow 

 to whitish, drooping, fragrant; corolla cylindrical or 

 subclavate. S. Eu. G.W. 6, p. 529. 



stellulatum, Waldst. & Kit. Perennial, branched at 

 base, ascending, hispid : Ivs. linear-oblong, plane, obtuse 

 or the upper ones acute : fls. yellow, more or less cermms, 

 short-pedicelled, in bifid cymes; corolla 1 in. long and 

 about H m - wide at apex, somewhat clavate, twice 

 longer than calyx, the teeth very short and re volute. 

 S. and S. E. Eu. Variable; cult, chiefly in the var. 

 tauricum, Hort. (0. tauricum, Pall. O. angustifolium, 

 Lehm.), with narrow revolute Ivs. and citron-yellow 

 fls., the corolla often \Y 2 in. long. B.M. 889. J.H. III. 

 35:11. Gn. 50, p. 251. G.C. II. 16:21; III. 51:274. 

 G. 4:447. Succeeds well on high ground or on sunny 

 rockery, with light, open, deep soil. Prop, by cuttings 

 generally, or by seed. Var. compactum, Hort., is a 

 condensed form. M.D.G. 1912:325. O. helveticum, 

 Boiss, is a Swiss form, not so tall and with rather broad 

 Ivs. G.C. III. 52:280. 



albo-roseum, Fisch. & Mey. (0. album, Hort.). 

 Perennial, more or less woody, tomentose: Ivs. hoary, 

 oblong and somewhat obtuse, narrowed to petioles, 

 the upper ones sessile and lance-oblong: fls. white 

 changing to rose and violet, velvety; corolla nearly 1 

 in. long, clavate pubescent, nearly double length of 

 calyx. Asia Minor. 



Fdrrestii, W. W. Smith. Perennial : basal Ivs. linear- 

 lanceolate or -oblanceolate, 6 in. or less long, the st.- 

 Ivs. linear and erect, all of them white-tomentose: infl. 

 rather dense, thickly covered with whitish hairs, the fls. 

 rose-color; calyx nearly J^in. long, the narrow-tubular 

 canescent corolla scarcely exceeding it. Yunnan, 

 China. 



O. sericeum, Willd. Perennial, somewhat woody, silky-pubes- 

 cent: rvs. oblong-lanceolate to obovate, the lower ones narrowed to 

 the petiole: fls. yellow, %in. long, the corolla broad at apex and 



