1152 



OPUNTIA 



ORANGE 



as joints, long, clavate, 1-2 in. long and one-third as wide, 

 mostly sterile, fertile ones with a few remarkably large, 

 irregular-spheroidal seeds. Arizona, Sonora. 



60. leptocaulis, P. DC. (O. fruttscens, Engelm.). An 

 erect shrub, 2-4 ft. hierh, with long, slender, flexible 



1550. Orange (Satsuma;. 

 Showing the multiplication of locales or compartments 



stems branching from near the ground, and numerous 

 lateral secondary ones, very short, usually unarmed and 

 easily detached: joints about one-fifth to M in. thick: 

 areolae with short, white wool and numerous, reddish 

 brown, conspicuous bristles : spines usually 1, sometimes 

 wanting, erect, stout, frequently 2 in. long, brownish or 

 horny, with a loose yellow sheath: fls. greenish yellow, 

 %-% in. wide, with deflexed perianth: fr. scarlet, suc- 

 culent, obovate to oblong, rarely globose, %-% in. long, 

 frequently proliferous, armed with tufts of long, red- 

 dish brown bristles. Southwestern U. S. and Sonora. 

 Var. major, Hort., is advertised. One of the slenderest 

 of the Opuntias. It differs from other species in that 

 the fls. do not open until late in the afternoon. Several 

 forms of this plant occur throughout its range, some of 

 which have been separated as varieties. One 

 of the most frequent of the cylindrical Opun- 

 tias in cult. 



61. ramosissima, Engelm. ( O. tesselUta, 

 Engelm.). Figs. 1543, 1549. A spreading bush, 

 2-5 ft. high, with numerous slender branches 

 arising from a short trunk, 1-3 in.thick,and hav- 

 ing dark, scaly bark : joints ashy to bluish gray, 

 variable in length, ultimate ones 2-6 in., %-% 

 in. thick : areolee with sparse white wool and 

 a few small yellow bristles : spines sometimes 

 wanting (Fig. 1537), usually 1, stiff, erect, l%-2 

 in. long, loosely sheathed: fls. reddish purple, 

 %-% in. wide, dry, narrowly obovate, 1 in. long, 

 % in. wide, with lor 2 seeds, frequently sterile, 

 armed with numerous long, grayish bristles. 

 Ariz., Calif., Sonora. 



O. cocdnellifera, Mill. = Nopalea. O. corrugdta, 

 Salm., is advertised, but little known. O. glauco- 

 phylla. O. KlelnioK, DC. is also advertised. O. 

 lurida is probably O. arborescens. 



J. W. TOUMEY. 



ORACH, or French Spinach, is a pot-herb cult, and 

 used much like spinach. It is an annual, grows 5-6 ft. 

 high, has furrowed stems and arrow-shaped, slightly 

 crimped Ivs. of soft texture. The inflorescence sug- 

 gests that of amarantus-like plants. The individual 

 fls. are very small, devoid of petals, and greenish or 

 reddish according to variety. For a more technical de- 

 scription, see Atriplex hortensis. 



There are three main types of Orach, based on the 

 color of the Ivs. The white variety is the one most 

 commonly grown. The Ivs. are pale green, almost yel- 

 low. The red or dark red variety has stems and foliage 

 of dark red color, which disappears in cooking. It is 

 occasionally cult, as an ornamental foliage plant under 

 the name var. atrosanguinea. The green variety is per- 

 haps the most vigorous type. The Ivs. are rounder than 

 those of the white var. and less toothed. So far as is 

 known, only the red and white varieties are offered in 

 America. The seed is usually drilled into the open 



ground in early March. The plants are used in their 

 young state. They bear hot weather fairly well, but 

 soon run to seed. Monthly successional sowings 

 are therefore desirable. Orach is little known in 

 America. ^y ]yj 



OKANGE. Plate XXIII. The Orange is one of 

 the oldest of cultivated fruits. Its nativity is still 

 in doubt, but it is probable that it is indigenous 

 to the Indo-Chinese region. It is now widely 

 distributed in all warm-temperate and tropical 

 countries, in many of which it has run wild and 

 behaves like a native plant. In parts of Florida 

 the Orange was found wild when permanent set- 

 tlements were made, but it had probably spread 

 from stock that was introduced by the early 

 Spaniards. In stature of tree and character of 

 fruit, the Orange has varied immensely. Nor- 

 mally, the fruit contains ten compartments or 

 locules ; but under the influence of domestica- 

 tion these compartments have been increased, 

 and in some cases a secondary axis, with its 

 accompanying locules, has been thrust into the 

 center of the fruit, causing the "navel" appear- 

 ance of some varieties. Fig. 1550; also Fig. 476, 

 p. 322. These navel Oranges, of which the 

 Washington Navel or Bahia is the best known, are 

 chance seedling varieties, as other varieties are. The 

 immediate cause of this particular kind of variation 

 is unknown. The Washington Navel was introduced 

 from Brazil in 1870 by the late Wm. Saunders, of the 

 U. S. Dept. of Agric., and by him distributed as the 

 Bahia (see Van Deman, Rept. Dept. Agric, 1886, p. 

 267). In recent years, some of the odd and grotesque 

 types of Japanese Oranges have been introduced into 

 this country, but they will probably always be curiosi- 

 ties rather than commercial pomological products. See 

 Figs. 1551-2 and cf. Shinn, A.G. 1890, 333-6. 



There are three well-developed Orange regions within 

 the confines of the United States : central and southern 

 Florida; the delta region of the Mississippi; California. 



1551. The Natsu-dai-dia, or Summer Orange of Japan. 



The fruit is large, suggesting a shaddock. It is not eaten till 

 the second summer. 



Parts of Texas and the Mexico-Arizona region will no 

 doubt develop into commercial Orange sections in the 

 near future. Until within recent years a large part of 

 the Oranges consumed in this country have come from 



