270 ORNAMENTAL FOLIAGE PLANTS. 



by many authorities retained in Aralia. They are very 

 ornamental plants, forming splendid specimens for the 

 decoration of the greenhouse or conservatory ; they are 

 also very effective in the open air during summer, when 

 sufficiently large. The species of Oreopanax, like those of 

 Aralia, should be grown in sandy loam, to which may be 

 added some peat and leaf mould. They may be increased 

 by cuttings or eyes. 



0. dactylifolivmi. — ^An elegant erect-growing plant, with 

 palmate leaves, usually having about seven lobes, which 

 are divided deeply down, and measure from six to eighteen 

 inches in diameter. The stem, petioles, and under side of 

 the leaf are clothed with a rusiy tomentum ; the upper side 

 is smooth and deep g^een. It should be in every collection 

 of greenhouse plants. Native of Mexico. 



0. plantanifolia. — This is another cool-house species, and 

 is a superb plant for general decorative purposes. The 

 leaves are from six to eighteen inches or even more in 

 diameter, having from five to seven lobes, dark green on 

 the upper side, paler below ; the base of the petioles is 

 swollen, and clothed with a ferrugineous tomentum. Na- 

 tive of the mountains of Peru. 



OUVIEANDEA. 



This is a small genus belonging to the order Jimoa- 

 ginacecB, It consists of aquatic plants, which grow beneath 

 and not upon the surface of the water, yet as it is for 

 the beauty and singularity of the foliage that the species 

 are grown, it would not be politic to ignore them ia these 

 pages. The natives say the roots grow to a considerable 

 size, and are an article of considerable importance to them, 

 as at certain seasons they collect the roots, and use them 

 for food after their being cooked, hence it is called by 



