1174 



ORIGANUM 



ORNITHOGALUM 



descriptions show, and the point can be easily settled 

 by each reader for the particular plants which he is cul- 

 tivating. 



A. Calyx of 5 equal teeth: bracts colored. 

 vulgare, Linn. WILD MARJORAM. Lvs. stalked, 

 broadly ovate, subserrate, broadly rounded at the base, 

 villous: fls. purplish, in corymbed clusters or short 

 spikes. Cult, in old gardens; also wild along eastern 

 roadsides, being naturalized from Eu. B.B. 3:111. 



AA. Calyx 2-lipped: bracts not colored. 

 B. Lvs. stalked. 



Majorana, Linn. Lvs. oblong-ovate, entire, tomen- 

 tose : fls. purplish or whitish : spikelets oblong, 3-5 in a 

 cluster. 



BB. Lvs. not stalked. 



Onites, Linn. Lvs. ovate, subserrate, villous or to- 

 mentose, mostly cordate at the base: fls. as in O. 

 Majorana but a little larger: spikelets ovoid, very 

 numerous in a cluster. Southeastern Eu., Asia Minor, 

 Syria. W. M. 



Origanum Majorana, Sweet or Annual Marjoram, is 

 a native of the countries bordering the Mediterranean 

 sea. It is an erect, branching perennial, bearing grayish 

 green, rounded or oval leaves, small, whitish flowers in 

 terminal clusters which appear in midsummer, and 

 little, oval, dark brown seeds. The plant has a pleasing 

 odor and warm, aromatic, bitterish taste, due to a vola- 

 tile oil which is soluble in water, is omcinally credited 

 with tonic and gently excitant properties, and, as an 

 infusion, is employed in domestic medicine to "bring 

 out the rash" in such diseases as measles. More fre- 

 quently than in medicine, however, its green parts are 

 used as a condiment, being highly esteemed as a season- 

 ing for soups, stews, meat pies and dressings. In the 

 garden this plant is treated as an annual, hence the 

 name "Annual Marjoram." This practice became neces- 

 sary since the plants are prone to winter-kill unless 

 carefully protected. Its propagation is also somewhat 

 precarious, owing to the small size of the seeds and the 

 tenderness of the seedlings when exposed to the sun. 

 Shade, therefore, until the plants are well rooted is usu- 

 ally necessary. Sucrfessional plantings may be made 

 throughout the spring; sometimes transplanting from 

 hotbeds or coldframes in May or June is practiced. 

 The plants should stand 6 inches asunder in rows 12 

 inches apart, in light, dry, but good soil, be kept clean 

 throughout the season, and harvested for winter use 

 just before flowering, the plant being cut close to the 

 ground and hung in a cool, airy place to dry. If planted 

 early, leaves may be gathered in late spring. Accord- 

 ing to Dreer, American-grown seed is better than im- 

 ported seed for winter use, as it makes more bulk, while 

 imported seed is better when the plants are to be cut 

 green for summer use. 



Origanum viilgare, Pot Marjoram, a branching, 

 hardy perennial, about 2 feet tall, bearing in mid- 

 summer pink or purple flowers, and small, brown, oval 

 seeds, grows wild on the skirts of European woods. 

 The highly aromatic leaves and the young shoots gath- 

 ered just before blossoming are used like those of 

 Sweet Marjoram. The plant is of easy culture, succeed- 

 ing in all warm garden soils. It may be propagated by 

 seed, but, where established, division in spring or 

 early autumn is generally practiced. The plants should 

 be set 10 inches asunder in rows 15 inches apart, and 

 kept well cultivated. Dwarf Pot Marjoram, a variety 

 that comes true from seed, bears large heads of whitish 

 flowers, and is often used as an edging plant. 



M. G. KAINS. 



ORfXA (Japanese name). Rutacece. Deciduous 

 shrub, with alternate, petioled, almost entire Ivs., and 

 greenish inconspicuous fls. It has proved hardy in 

 Mass., but has no decorative merit besides its bright 

 green foliage, which is not attacked by insects or fungi, 

 and has a strong disagreeable odor like that of Ptelea. 

 Orixa seems to grow in almost any soil. Propagated by 

 greenwood cuttings ; also by layers and root cuttings 

 and by seeds. The genus has but one species. Fls. dioe- 

 cious, appearing with the Ivs. on the branches of the 

 previous year; sepals and petals 4, staminate fls. in ra- 



cemes, pistillate fls. solitary: fr. consisting of 4 dehis- 

 cent pods, each containing 1 black, subglobose seed. 

 Pistillate fls. and fr. are described as solitary as stated 

 above, and so they are on Japanese specimens, but a 

 plant in the Arnold Arboretum has the pistillate fls. and 

 fr. in short racemes. 



Jap6nica, Thunb. (Celdstrus Orixa, Sieb. & Zucc. 

 Ilex Orixa, Spreng. Othera Orixa, Lam.). Shrub, to 

 8 ft., with spreading branches pubescent when young: 

 Ivs. obovate to oblong, obtusely pointed, entire or finely 

 crenulate, bright green above, finely pubescent beneath, 

 translucently glandular-punctate, 2-4 in. long : fls. 

 small, greenish: pods about % in. long, light greenish 

 brown. April, May. Japan. Gt. 35:1232. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



ORNAMENTAL GARDENING, or ornamental horti- 

 culture, is that branch of horticulture which is concerned 

 with cultivating plants of all kinds for ornament rather 

 than for food. It includes floriculture and also the cul- 

 ture of trees for shade and display. ( The culture of trees 

 on a large scale for timber and for other profitable pur- 

 poses aside from ornament is forestry. The culture of 

 trees in general is arboriculture. ) Ornamental gardening 

 includes carpet-bedding and formal gardening in gen- 

 eral, while landscape gardening is concerned with mak- 

 ing nature-like pictures, or at least with the general 

 plan of the place. 



OKNITH6GALUM (Greek, bird and milk ; application 

 unknown). Liliacece. This genus includes the Star of 

 Bethlehem, a dwarf, hardy bulbous plant which bears 

 umbels of green and white fls. in May and June. Orni- 

 thogalum is one of the largest genera in the lily family, 

 containing about 100 species scattered over Europe, the 

 Orient, North and South Africa. In 1873, when Baker 

 monographed the genus (in Latin) in the Journal of the 

 Linnean Society, he recognized 73 species altogether, 

 but in 1897 he gives an account (in English) in Flora 

 Capensis of an equal number from South Africa alone. 

 Baker made 7 subgenera, based chiefly upon the color 

 of the fls. and the shape of the cluster, though one sub- 

 genus was cut off from all the rest by having the sta- 

 mens perigynous instead of hypogynous. The majority 

 of the species seem to have more or less green in the 

 fls. either on the face or back or both, and often the 

 green is prettily set off by a narrow white margin. 

 Some species have pure white fls. and a few have yel- 

 low or yellowish ones. Some of the dominant forms of 

 flower-clusters are oblong-cylindrical, broadly triangu- 

 lar, subcorymbose and lanceolate. Ornithogalurn is dis- 

 tinguished from other genera as follows : perianth per- 

 sistent; tube none; segments 6, usually spreading: 

 filaments more or less flattened and in many species 

 unequal ; alternate ones being broader at the base : 

 ovary sessile, 3-celled; ovules many in a cell, super- 

 posed : style short or long : capsule membranous, 

 loculicidally 3-valved : seeds globose, usually not 

 crowded nor compressed : often the perianth segments 

 are keeled and the green color follows the keel. 



Horticulturally, Ornithogalums may be divided into 

 hardy and tender groups, and each of these may be sub- 

 divided into dwarf and tall. The hardy kinds are con- 

 sidered by English amateurs amongst the choicest 

 summer-blooming bulbs for wild gardening. With the 

 remarkable increase of wild gardens now going on in 

 America, arrangements should be made so that ama- 

 teurs may procure these bulbs cheaply and scatter them 

 with a free hand along woodland walks and in the grass. 

 The common Star of Bethlehem, O. umbellatum, a 

 dwarf kind, is the only Ornithogalum that is at all com- 

 mon in our gardens. O. nutans has escaped from a few 

 old gardens but seems never to be advertised in America, 

 and rarely even by the Dutch bulb-growers, but in Eng- 

 land " it is a very popular species and one of the most 

 easily managed of all the Ornithogalums. In borders 

 amongst other named bulbs, however, it becomes a 

 great nuisance, an account of the freedom with which 

 its innumerable bulbils are formed. In a semi-wild or 

 uncultivated spot it is a capital subject for groundwork ; 

 it requires no attention whatever, and flowers freely all 

 through April and May." 



Of the taller hardy 'kinds O. latifolium and O. pyra- 



