1128 



OLIVE 



ONCIDIUM 



a clear oil of the true Olive flavor and color. But the 

 American market demands a perfectly clear and bril- 

 liant oil put up in glass, and this is usually obtained by 

 filtering. This is detrimental to the flavor of the oil, 

 for the more it is filtered the more neutral and "greasy" 

 will the taste become. This practice, therefore, should 

 be discouraged, and the desire for the true Olive flavor 

 cultivated, making it impossible for cheap, neutral, 

 greasy substitutes (such as cottonseed oil) to take its 

 place in the taste of the consumer. Of the highest 

 importance throughout the entire process is the item 

 of cleanliness. The mill, press, floors, trays and all 

 apparatus should be scalded daily when in use and 

 no strong odor permitted about the premises; for so 

 absorptive is pure Olive oil that it will immediately 

 "take up " all unpleasant odors, and thus impair its deli- 

 cate flavor. 



For making pickles, no set rules can be laid down 

 except to emphasize the importance of careful picking 

 and handling (to avoid bruising) and cleanliness. Here, 

 again, the Olives should not be allowed to overripen; 

 if they are, they are likely to soften, and a first-class 

 pickle will be impossible. The Olives as they come 

 from the trees contain a most acrid and bitter principle. 

 This is extracted by means of pure water, changed 

 daily, or by a weak solution of lye. The latter is almost 

 universally used, though the water-extracted pickles 

 are considered the best. The extreme length of time 

 required (from 30 to 90 days), and the consequent dan- 

 ger from bacterial and fungoid contamination in the 

 water process, renders its use impossible, except in 

 special cases. For lye -extraction a solution containing 

 from 1 to 2 per cent of lye is used, and the Olives 

 allowed to stand in this until nearly all the bitter prin- 

 ciple is extracted. Then they are soaked in pure fresh 

 water (changed two or three times daily) until all the 

 lye has been dissolved out. They are now ready for 

 salting. This is done gradually, i. e., a start is made 

 with a weak brine, and the strength gradually increased 

 from time to time until it is strong enough to float an 

 egg. This prevents shrinking and consequent toughen- 

 ing. The pickles are now ready for storing, and if prop- 

 erly prepared and put into boiled brine will keep for 

 years. This is the process in outline ; but in actual 

 practice each detail will require modification brought 

 about by varying conditions, and no "rule-of -thumb" 

 can be laid down to suit all cases. 



See Bulletins 104 and 123, and the annual reports of 

 the California Experiment Station. 



ARNOLD V. STUBENRAUCH. 



OLIVE-BARK TREE. Terminalia Catappa. 



OLIVE, WILD, Olea Europcea ; also Elwagnus. 



OMPHALODES (Greek, navel-shaped ; referring to 

 the seeds) Borraginacece . NAVEL WORT. Of this 

 genus we cultivate 3 low-growing, hardy herbs, with 

 fls. much like those of forget-me-not, but larger and 

 usually with a white 5-pointed star dividing the corolla- 

 lobes. The fls. are often more or less pinkish, particu- 

 larly toward the center. They like moist situations, but 

 in deep shade grow too luxuriantly; also the fls. are 

 fewer and of a weaker blue. Partial shade or full sun- 

 light is preferable. The commonest kind is the "Creep- 

 ing Forget-me-not," O. verna, which is a spring-bloom- 

 ing perennial of easy culture, producing runners freely 

 and easily prop, 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 fine for fringing 

 walks. It is said to like best a cool, moist loam, with a 

 few bits of sandstone among which the roots may ram- 

 ble and from which they may derive coolness and 

 moisture. The choicest kind is O. Lucilice, also a 

 spring-blooming perennial, but of tufted habit and im- 

 patient of division. It is a typical "uncertain" alpine: 

 for some it flourishes like a weed; others have tried 

 time and again to establish it permanently without suc- 

 cess. It is a native of two localities in Asia Minor at a 

 height of 8,000 ft., 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. In 

 America O. Lucilice has been successfully grown by J. 

 B. Keller, but the plant is not now advertised in this 



country. O. lini folia is a summer-blooming annual of 

 easy culture. O. verna has a white-fld. form, which is 

 pretty but lacks the interest of a blue-fld. forget-me-not. 

 Omphalodes is a genus of about 10 species, native to 

 the Mediterranean region, middle Asia and Japan. An- 

 nual or perennial herbs of low growth, glabrous or 

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

 lanceolate, ovate or cordate; stem-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. The descriptions given below are 

 adapted from DeCandolle's Prodromus, vol. 10 (1846). 

 with which the pictures cited agree rather poorly. 



A. Plant a summer-blooming annual. 

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

 radical Ivs. wedge-shaped; stem-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. caerul6scens which has bluish fls., sometimes tinged 

 with rose. This belongs to a group in which the nut- 

 lets are affixed laterally and lengthwise to the style, 

 which is pyramidal and has a square base. 



AA. Plants spring -blooming perennials. 



B. Habit creeping by runners. 



v6rna, Moench. CREEPING FORGET-ME-NOT. Stolo- 

 niferous: flowering-stem erect: Ivs, sparsely puberu- 

 lous; radical ones long-petioled, ovate or subcordate; 

 stem-lvs. short-petioled, sublanceolate ; all Ivs. acumi- 

 nate, callous at the apex: fls. borne in pairs in a ra- 

 ceme. April, May. Eu. B.M. 7 (Cynoglossum Ompha- 

 lodes). Gn. 26, p. 315; 40: 818, -Flowers light blue, ac- 

 cording to DeCandolle. Var. alba is also offered. 



BB. Habit tufted, not creeping. 



Luciliae, Boiss. Glabrous, tufted: Ivs. oblong, obtuse, 

 the radical Ivs. narrowed into a long petiole, the stem- 

 lvs. sessile, upper ones ovate: pedicels longer than the 

 nearest floral leaf, erect, then arcuate - recurved : fls. 

 blue; calyx-lobes ovate-oblong, somewhat obtuse, about 

 one-fourth as long as the pedicels ; corolla broadly fun- 

 nel-shaped, about four times as long as the calyx: nut- 

 lets 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 pink- 

 ish purple, all with a white eye). Gn. 27:482; p. 194.- 

 This and O. verna belong to a group in which the nut- 

 lets are depressed, shorter than the persistent style, 

 scarcely adhering to it at the base, and smaller than the 

 calyx, to which it is adnate. Fls. about % in. across, 

 twice as large as those of O. verna. y?. M. 



ONClDITJM (Greek, a tubercle ; alluding to the crest 

 on the labellum) . Orchiddcece. A large genus of orchids 

 with over 300 species distributed in Mexico, Central 

 and tropical America, and in the West 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 O. vari- 

 cosum, O. tigrimim and related species, the labellum is 

 greatly developed, forming the most conspicuous part 

 of the flower, while in O. serratum and O. macranthiim 

 it is inconspicuous. The sepals and petals vary in size 

 in relation to each other and to the rest of the flower. 

 A remarkable instance is O. Papilio, in which the petals 

 and dorsal sepal have been transformed into linear-erect 

 segments, recalling, on a large scale, the antennae of 

 some insect. The general habit of the plants is no less 

 variable than the fls. They range in size from small, 

 erect forms scarcely 6 inches in height (O. pumilum] to 

 those resembling O. altissimum, with immense climb- 

 ing panicles 9 to 12 ft. high, and covered with numerous 

 medium-sized fls. The prevailing color of the fls. is yel- 

 low, spotted and barred with brown. White or rose- 

 colored fls. occur in a few rare instances (O. inciirvum, 

 O. ornithorhynchtim) . 



