2;?5« 



(^PTIIOPOnON 



OPUNTIA 



'4111. aortiss. the tips of the soKins. greenish. Coeliin- 

 Chiiia. U.H. HKKi, p. 371.— Recent. 



\Vll,HF.I-M MlLLBU. 

 L. II. B.t 



OPHRYS (Greek, eyebrow). Orchiddccx. Terrestrial 

 orchids. 



Havinp the habit of Goodyera, bearing a basal 

 rosette of Ivs. with an erect ll.-st. terminating in a 

 raceme or sinkc of fls.: sepals similar, spreading; 

 pet;ils smaller, often pubescent; labellum generally 

 convex with incurved margins, not spurred, entire or 

 3-lobed: column short. — .\bout 30 s|iecies, mostly in 

 the North Temperate Zone in Eii., Asia and N. Afr., the 

 greater ninnber being found in the Medit. region. 

 Cult, as for habenaria. 



A. Margin of tlie lahtllum brown or piirph-hrown. 



B. Labellum scarcdy longer than the sepal. 



c. Sepals green. 



aranifera, Huds. Si-idek Orciiis. Resembles 0. 

 apifera. Sepals green; petals very short; labelhmi dull 

 brown, marked with i)alcr spots, obscurely lobed. 

 Spring and early summer. Eu. B.M. 5712. B.R. 1197. 



fusca, Link. Lvs. oblong-lanceolate, those on the 

 St. narrower: sepals green, ovate-oblong, the upper 

 one smaller, oblong; petals half as long, lanceolate- 

 obtuse; labellum oblong, dark purple and hairy on the 

 margin, di.sk light blue, polished. Medit. region. B.R. 

 1071. 



cc. Sepals rose-colored or white. 



arachnites, Lam. St. erect, leafy: lvs. ovate-lan- 

 ceolate: fls. distant; sepals ovate concave, rose-colored, 

 tinged with green; petals conical, fleshy, smaller than 

 the sepals and colored like them; labellum round, with 

 the sides reflexed, black-purple, with yellow marks and 

 green appendages. Cent. Eu. B.M. 2516. G.C. III. 

 48:482. 



apifera, Huds. (0. arachnites, Reichard). Bee 

 Orchis. St. 9-18 in. high, with few oblong or lanceo- 

 late lvs.: fls. 3-6, rather large; sepals ovate, pale pink or 

 white; petals smaller, erect; labellum broad, convex, 

 lobes all turned, velvety brown, marked with paler 

 lines or spots. Fls. earlv summer. Dry pastures, Cent, 

 and S. Eu. Gn. 69, p. 2.57. G. 35:379. 



BB. Labellum longer than the sepals. 



Speculum, Link. Looking-Glass Orchis. St. 4-12 

 in. high, 3-(>-fld.: lvs. line.ar-oblong: fls. '-j-l in. across; 

 sepals linear-oblong, green, with purple bands; petals 

 very small, trianguhir-lanceolate, dark purple-brown; 

 labellum quadrate, oblong, very convex; disk shining 

 blue, with a yellow edge; margin pilose and fimbriate, 

 maroon-purple. Medit. region. B.M. 5844. B.R. 370. 



muscifera, Huds. (O. myodes, Jacq.). Fly Orchis. 

 St. ver>' slender, 3-4-fld.: sepals oblong or narrowly 

 ovate, greenish; petals narrowly linear; labellum long, 

 oblong, puri)lish brown, with pale white or blue marks 

 in the center; central lobe notched. Spring and early 

 summer. Cent, and E. Eu. R.B. 21:241. 



AA. Margin of the labellum yellow or greenish yellow. 



tenthredinifera, Willd. Sawfly Orchi.s. St. 6 in. 

 high: lvs. elliptic-lanceolate: .spike 3-8-fld.; fls. nearly 

 1 in. acros.s; .sepals oblong, obtuse, concave, varying 

 from ro.se to white; petals very small; labellum broadly 

 obcordate, greenish yellow, pubescent, with a large 

 ch<^tnut-<;olorcd spot on the disk. Medit. region. B.R. 

 205; urn. B.M. 1930. F. 1872, p. 128. 



latea, Cav. St. 4-7 in. tall, many-fld.: lvs. linear- 

 oblong: fls. ^in. across; sepals oblong, obtuse, 

 incurved, green; petals much smaller, linear-f)blong; 

 labellum qiia^lrate, golden yellow, with a purrile disk. 

 Mwlit. region. B.M. .5941. 



AoTiu anthrapdphan, Br. Advertised aa Ophrya anthro- 

 pophors, Linn. Ma.v Obchw. 8t. about 9 in. hii!li. the npike 



being 2-4 in. lonR: Iv.s. ovsite to ublong or lanceolate; fls. dull yel- 

 hnvish Rreon: sepals aiui petals converging over the column; 

 liibelluni much Ioniser tliiin tlie sepals: side lobes long, narrow, and 

 the middle lobe split into 2 narrow lobes. Early summer. Pastures, 

 S. Ku. (.)phrys differs from Aceras in having a very convex label- 

 lum. Both genera are ilistinguished from Orchis by the absence 

 of a spur. — O. elnisca, Hort., and O. Gramplnii, Hort., are hybrids 

 between O. aranifera and O. tenthredinifera. 



The name Ophrys is used by some botanists to replace Listera 

 (p. 1891): in that case, the synonymy of the listeras becomes: 



O. convattarioides. \Vight (Listera convallarioides, Torr.). — O. 

 citrd^ta, T.inn. {Listera cordata, U. Br.). — 0. Smdllii, House (Listera 

 .Smallii, Wiegand). Similar to O. convallarioides: lvs. ovate-reni- 

 f<irm, borne at or below the middle of the St.: raceme loose, few-fld., 

 lip ]im. long, not ciliate, broadly ovate, cleft at the apex; ovary 

 glabrous. Mountains of Fa. to N. C. 



Heinrich Hasselbring. 



OPHTHALMOBLAPTON (Greek, eye injuring, from 

 its poisonous ;iction). Euphorbiacex. Trees with milky 

 juice: lvs. alternate, simple, pinnately veined: infl. 

 axillary or lateral; fls. inconspicuous, monoecious, 

 apetalous; calyx with 1-3 short lobes, valvate in the 

 bud; stamen 1; styles connate to the apex; ovary 3- 

 celled, 3-ovuled. — Three Brazilian species related to 



Sapium and StU- 

 lingia, not cult, 

 but noted for their 

 poisonous action 

 upon the skin and 

 mucous mem- 

 brane. 0. macro- 

 ph yllum , F r . 

 Allem., Saint 

 Lucia, is the best 

 known species. 

 J. B. S. Norton. 



OPIUM is the 

 product of Pa parer 

 somniferum, the 

 common annual 

 summer-blooming 

 poppy of gardens 

 with smooth, glau- 

 cous leaves and 

 white flowers. 



OPLiSMENUS 



(Greek, awned, 

 referring to the 

 awn.s). Gramlnex. Delicate creeping, branching grasses 

 with rather broad blades and narrow panicles con- 

 sisting of spreading 1-sided racemes: spikelet 1-fld.; 

 first and second glume and often the sterile lemma 

 awned. — A genus allied to Panicum, containing 5 or 6 

 species of the warmer regions, one of which is cult, in 

 conservatories for ornament. 



hirtellus, Roem. & Schult. {Pdnicum variegatum of 

 florists). Fig. 2595. A half-creeping perennial, with 

 .small, greenish panicles, the common form with neatly 

 white- and pink-striped lvs. W. Indies. Gn. 47, p. 68. 

 G. 37:271. — Popular for edges of beds and for hanging- 

 baskets. Prop, by divisions of the rooting sts. This 

 plant has usually passed as 0. Burmannii, which, 

 however, is an annual with silky panicles. 



A. S. Hitchcock. 



OPORANTHUS: Sternbergia. 



OPUNTIA ("old Latin name used by Pliny, later used 

 for the Indum fig, probably derived from Opus, a town 

 in Greece). Cactacese. Succulent plants, a few species 

 of which are extensively cultivated in warm regions for 

 their large, edible fruits, while others are grown as 

 hedges; numbers of species are grown in the collec- 

 tions of fanciers for their oddity. 



Ojjunlias vary from small, prostrate plants a few 

 inches above the ground to trees with spreading tops 

 20 or more ft. high: sts. flat, clavate or cylindrical, 

 bearing more or less elevated arcoles, from each of 



2595. Oplismenus hirtellus. 



