2404 



ORCHIS 



OREODOXA 



purple, in long spikes. 0. militaris, fls. purple. 0. Morio, fls. pur- 

 ple and green. O. pdllens, pale sulfur-yellow. O. papiliondcea, 

 fls. purple and white.-^-O. provincialis, long spikes of pale lemon- 

 yellow fls. O. Robertiana, fls. purple, brown and white, in large 

 spikes. O. sambudna, fls. yellow. 0. undulatifdlia, fls. white- and 

 rose-colored. TT TT 



HEINRICH HASSELBRING. 



OREOCARYA (Greek, mountain nut, referring to 

 habitat and the nutlets comprising the fr.). Bora- 

 ginacese. About 20 species of mostly biennial rough or 

 hispid herbs separated in recent years from Eri- 

 trichium and Krynitzkia. They are natives of W. N. 

 Amer. and Mex. They are scarcely known as horti- 

 cultural subjects, as only now and then are some of 

 them transferred to gardens. They are white- or yellow- 

 fld., the blossoms being on the order of myosotis: Ivs. 

 alternate, narrow: roots woody: fls. in crowded thryse- 

 like or paniculate clusters, the 

 calyx 5 -parted; corolla salver- 

 form, crested in the throat, 5- 

 lobed; stamens 5, not exserted, 

 often dimorphic; ovary deeply 4- 

 lobed, becoming 4 nutlets. Many 

 species are native in the Wyo.- 

 Colo.-Utah region. L. jj. g > 



OREOCEREUS (the mountain 

 Cereus). Pilocereus in part of 

 authors. Cactaceae. Usually large 

 columnar plants with strong arma- 

 ments and producing long white 

 hairs or wool like Cephalocereus, 

 but with very different fls. : ovary 

 and fl.-tube covered by numerous 

 imbricating bracts with their axils 

 filled with long woolly hairs; sta- 

 mens numerous, as long or longer 

 than the petals; style long ex- 

 serted. Two species are in cult, 

 and are described below. They 

 are cult, the same as Pilocereus. 



Celsianus, Riccob. (Pilocereus 

 Celsianus, Lem. P. fossuldtus, 

 Lab.). Columnar, in the gardens 

 simple, hardly more than 4 ft. 

 high, 3 in. diam. : ribs 10-17, bright 

 green: areoles bearing long (2 in.) 

 white hair; radial spines usually 

 9, the lower one, the longest, less 

 than 1 in. long; central usually 1, 

 sometimes 4, the longest some- 

 times 3 in. long, all yellow: fls. not 

 known. Andes of Bolivia. 



Var. Bruennowii, Brit. & Rose (Pilocereus Bruen- 

 nowii, Haage, f. P. Celsianus Bruennowii, Schum.). St. 

 stouter: wool brownish, more copious; spines stronger 

 and darker. 



lanatus, Brit. & Rose (Cactus lanatus, HBK. Pilo- 

 cereus Dautwitzii, Haage. P. Haagei, Poselg.). Col- 

 umnar, reaching 5 ft. in height, 4 in. diam. : ribs 25-30, 

 low, obtuse: areoles close together, bearing over 20 

 needle-like, spreading and interlocking spines, and also 

 copious long, white, curled hairs which cover the whole 

 upper part of the plant, like a spider's web. : cephalium 

 and fl. not certainly known. N. Peru. Ecuador. G.C. 

 1873:7. F.S. 21:2163. J. N. ROSE. 



ORE6COME: Selinum. 



OREODOXA (Greek, mountain glory). Palmacese. 

 The royal palm, cabbage palm, and a very few others, 

 from Florida to northern South America, comprising 

 the finest species of palms in cultivation; pinnate- 

 leaved, with tall columnar boles. 



The genus Oreodoxa, as formerly understood, has 

 recently been divided, and the Florida and West 

 Indian royal and cabbage palms have been separated 



2675. Royal palm. Oreodoxa regia. 



as Roystonea and the name Oreodoxa has been reserved 

 for South American species. This separation proceeds 

 on the basis of the botanical distinctness of the two 

 groups and also for npmenclatorial reasons. Oreodoxa 

 was established by Willdenow in 1804 for 2 Venezuelan 

 species, neither of which is congeneric with the W. 

 Indian royal palms. The type species, 0. aeuminata, 

 Willd., is associated by some authors with Euterpe, by 

 others with (Enocarpus. (See O. F. Cook, Science II. 

 12:479 (1900); Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, 28:549 (1901), 

 and 31:349 (1904); also Cook & Collins, EC. PI. Porto 

 Rico). Nevertheless, this disposition has not been 

 accepted by other palm students, as Beccari, and Dam- 

 mer & Urban; and until something like an agreement 

 is reached (and without expressing any opinion on the 

 merits of the case), it is better for a cylcopedia of horti- 

 culture to hold to a conservative 

 practice. For Beccari's recent 

 treatment, see Pomona College 

 Journ. Econ. Botany, May, 1912. 

 As usually defined, and as under- 

 stood by Martius (not Willdenow), 

 Oreodoxa comprises spineless 

 palms, the solitary erect robust 

 trunk cylindrical or swollen at the 

 middle : Ivs. terminal, equally pin- 

 natisect; segms. narrowly linear- 

 lanceolate, narrowed at the apex, 

 unequally bifid; midnerve rather 

 thick, scaly beneath; margins not 

 thickened, recurved at the base; 

 rachis convex on the back, sulcate 

 toward the base, and acute toward 

 the apex above; petiole half-cylin- 

 drical, sulcate above; sheath long: 

 spadix rather large, with long, 

 slender, pendent branches; spathes 

 2, the lower broad, laterally cari- 

 nate, shorter than the spadix, the 

 upper complete semi-cylindrical, 

 ventrally fissured: bracts and 

 bractlets scaly: fls. small, white, in 

 scattered glomerules: fr. obovoid 

 or oblong-ovoid, small, violet; seed 

 small, rounded, depressed, or obo- 

 vate and somewhat curved, with 

 sub-basal embryo and uniform 

 albumen. 



The two well-known Oreodoxas 

 are the royal palm (0. regia) and 

 the cabbage palm (0. oleracea). 

 Both are stately trees. While it is often difficult to dis- 

 tinguish immature specimens of the royal and cabbage 

 palms, in age they are distinct. 0. regia has staminate 

 flowers which, in bud, entirely inclose the stamens, while 

 in O. oleracea the stamens protrude before the flower 

 opens. In the latter species, also, the fruit is nearly twice 

 as long as wide, while in O. regia it is not more than a 

 third longer than wide. The character of trunk swelling, 

 usually applied as a distinguishing mark, is likely to 

 break down in some wild plants. The royal palm is one 

 of the grandest of pinnate palms, growing to a height of 

 over 100 feet with immense plumy feathery leaves 

 and a straight white trunk. It is a magnificent tree 

 for extreme southern Florida for avenue planting, and 

 is valuable in all sizes, but especially when 4 feet or over 

 in height. The form of it native in Florida is by some 

 regarded as a distinct species. The cabbage palm is cut 

 down when three years old for the central leaves, which 

 are tender and edible. In southern California, the royal 

 palm lives for years but without attaining any size, 

 and is therefore not accounted a success there. Because 

 of the original error in assigning the West Indian royal 

 palms to Oreodoxa of Martius, which itself is untenable, 

 the names of these plants and their relatives are badly 

 mixed. 



