ONOSMA 



OPHIOPOGON 



2355 



exceeding the calyx. Orient. 0,0.111.52:281. — 0. ThOmmonii, 

 Hort.. is Echium rubrum, Jacq., of 8. Eu. and Caucasus: Ivs. 

 white tonientose, linear-lanceolate: fls. scarlet, racemose. 



L. H. B.t 

 ONOSMODIUM (like Onosma, a European genus of 

 this family). Boraginacese.- False Gromwell. About 

 10 species of N. American and Mexican branching 

 herbs, mostly or wholly perennial, bristly, 1-4 ft. high, 

 rarely transferred to cult, grounds: Ivs. oblong, sessile, 

 rib-veined: fls. white, greenish or yellowish, in long, 

 erect, leafy, raceme-like clusters; corolla tubular or 

 oblong-funnel-shaped, with throat naked, the lobes 

 erect, acute, the sinuses more or less inflexed; style 

 filiform or capillar}', verj' long; stigma exserted before 

 the corolla opens: nutlets ovoid or globular, bony, 

 smooth and polished, white. Closely related to Litho- 

 spermum. None of the species seems now to be in the 

 trade; the names and descriptions may be found in the 

 manuals of native plants. They are of little value 

 horticulturally. 



ONTADENIA: Odontadenia. 



ON^CHTUM (Greek, onyx, a claw; referring to the 

 shape of the lobes of the Ivs.). Polypodiaccx. A group 

 of small mainly Asiatic ferns, with the sori arranged 

 on a continuous linear receptacle as in Pteris, but with 

 narrow segms. in which the indusia extend nearly to 

 the niidrib. For cult., see Fern. The orchids occa- 

 sionally advertised as onychiums are dendrobiums. 



aiiratum, KauK. Lvs. ovate, a foot or more long by 

 half as wide, quadripinnatifid, with membranous indusia 

 and abundant sporangia of a golden color; divisions of 

 the sporophylls pod-like. India and adjacent islands. 



japonicum, Kunze. Fig. 2593. Lvs. ovate, a foot or 

 more long by half as wide, quadripinnatifid, with pale 

 indusia and brown sori; divisions of the sporophylls 

 linear-mucronate, similar to those of the sterile If. 

 India, China, and Japan. l. M. Underwood. 



OPHELIA: Sirertia. 

 OPHIANTHE: Gesneria. 



OPHIOGLQSSUM (Greek, serpent's tongue). Ophio- 

 glossdcese. About 40 species of small plants alUed to true 

 ferns, of wide distribution. The sts. are subterranean, 

 small, bearing usually a single erect succulent If. which 

 consists of a petiole, an expanded simple blade, and a 



jJX 





0%W 



-■^ 



g^i^SS- 





2593. Onychium japonicum, 

 showing fertile and sterile 

 fronds. CKH) 



2394. 



Ophioglossum 



vulgatum. — 



Adder's 



tongue. 



contracted fertile spike bearing 2 rows of fleshy coa- 

 lescent sporangia; venation reticulate. Rather difficult 

 of cult., and mainly of interest as curiosities. 



vulgatum, Linn. Adder'.s Tongue Fern. Fig. 2594. 

 Lf. 6-12 in. high, the petiole 3-6 in. high, the blade 

 ovate, 1-2 in. long, the spike about 1 in. long, on a long 

 stalk. Spores mature in July. In low 

 places, Eu. and N. Amer. — May be cult. 

 in moist peat in a partially shaded sjjot. 

 Occasionally found in large numbers in 

 peaty meiuiows. r_ c. Benedict. 



OPHIOPOGON (Greek, snake's heard; 

 a translation of the Japanese name). 

 Liliacese. Herbs, grown for the bluish or 

 wliite small flowers and the grass-like foli- 

 age that may form a good ground-cover. 



The genus is oriental, of about a score 

 of species. The plants have a short thick 

 rhizome, and the fibrous roots sometimes 

 act like runners, and may be thickened 

 into tubers: lvs. linear or oblong-lanceo- 

 late and narrowed into a petiole: bracts 

 small, scarious: perianth-tube none; sta- 

 mens 6, fixed at the b.ase of the segms.; 

 filaments erect, distinct, shorter than the 

 linear anthers; cells of 3-celled ovary 2- 

 ovuled : fr. indehiscent ; seeds in the form 

 of a globose berry. — The E. Indian species 

 appear not to be cult. The genus is closely 

 allied to Liriope. 0. spicatus=Liriope 

 graminifoHa. 



Of this genus, two species are well 

 known in cultivation. They are low- 

 growing herbaceous perennials from Jap.an, 

 with linear foliage, which is often striped or 

 spotted with white or yellow, and racemes 

 of small six-parted pendulous flowers, 

 varying from white through lilac to violet-purple. They 

 are procurable from a few dealers in hardy perennials, 

 from specialists in Japanese jilants and from Dutch 

 bulb-growers. The most popular form is 0. Jabiiran 

 var. aureus variegatus, which is chiefly used as a green- 

 house fohage plant. The flowers of 0. Jahuran are 

 followed by large sho^'y shining dark blue berries. It 

 is easy to manage in the window, and is almost hardy. 

 0. japonicus is much used in Italy and southern France 

 for a green turf and for border edgings, and it begins 

 to be used for the same purpose in southern California. 

 It needs no chpping, and will stand under the shade of 

 trees, making a dark green lawn-cover, standing well 

 in drought. The species of ophiopogon are propagated 

 by division. 



japonicus, Ker. Perennial stemlcss glabrous herb, 

 with a stoloniferous rhizome : fibrous roots long, slender, 

 often nodulose: root-lvs. numerous, erect, narrowly 

 linear, l-z-l ft., and l-ljj lines wide, 5-7-nerved: 

 scape 2-4 in. long; raceme lax, few-fld., 2-3 in. long, 

 the lower fls. in groups of 2-3; fls. drooping, violet- 

 purple to lUac or more or less whitish. Japan, Korea, 

 N. China. B.M. 1063. Var. variegatus, Hort., has 

 variegated foliage. 



Jabiiran, Lodd. Habit of the above, but more robust: 

 lvs. 1 ' 2-3 ft. long, 4-6 lines wide, many-nerved : scape 

 }^-2 ft. long; raceme 3-6 in. long, the lower fls. usually 

 in groups of 6-9; fls. white to lilac. Japan. L.B.C. 

 19:1876 (a fine pure white). Var. caeriileus, Hort., 

 h.a-s "blue" fls. Var. aureus variegatus has foliage 

 striped golrlen yellow. Var. argenteus variegatus has 

 foliage spotted white. Var. argenteus vittatus has 

 foliage strii)ed white. 



Regnieri, Bois. Stemless: lvs. in a rosette, erect or 

 reflexed, lanceolate, slcnder-petioled, to 1 ft. long, 

 marked with pale green and yellow: scape S in., 2-edged, 

 bearing a several-fld. raceme; fls. violet-white, to 



