OPHI 



Cf)e &itR$uri} tit JSotanj?, 



816 



the spore-cases of the latter; and from 

 Marattiacece, the only other order of Filices, 

 by having a straight instead of circi- 

 nate vernation. They have, moreover, the 

 fructifications marginal, on narrow raehi- 

 form fronds or branches of the frond.* The 

 order contains the three genera, Botry- 

 clrium, Helminflwstachys,and Ophioglossum, 

 two of which are represented in our own 

 country. [T. M.] 



OPHIOGLOSSUM. The typical genus of 

 Ophioglossacece, distinguished from all 



Ophioglossum pendulum, 

 others of that order by having its fructifi- 

 cation borne in the form of spikes, the 

 spore-cases, which are merely globose re- 

 cesses placed in a single line side by side 

 along the two margins of the spike, being 

 connate witb the latter, and bursting hori- 

 zontally into two equal hemispherical 

 valves : hence the spike, after bursting, 

 has the appearance of being notched at 

 regular short intervals along its two edges. 

 These spikes terminate either a separate 

 frond, as in O. Bergerianum, or else a sepa- 

 rate branch of the frond, as in O. vulga- 

 tum; or sometimes, as in O. palmatum, 

 several fertile spikes branch out from the 

 same frond. The leafy sterile fronds are 

 everywhere reticulated. The species are 

 spread over the whole world, from the 

 torrid to the arctic zones, and being of 

 simple structure are not readily discrimi- 

 nated. Indeed, some botanists go so far 

 as to regard the greater part of them as 

 forms of a single species, our common 

 Adder's-tougue, 0» vulgatum. [T. MJ 



OPHIOMERIS. A small leafless plant 

 found on decayed trunks of trees in the 

 deep shady forests of Brazil, forming a 

 genus of Burmanniacece. It appears to be 

 seldom above two inches high, and is re- 

 markable for its obliquely pear-shaped pe- 

 rianth tube with the three inner lobes long 

 subulate and incurved, as in the allied 

 Asiatic genus Thismia, from which it differs 

 in its free stamens and the almost lateral 

 orifice of the perianth. 



OPHIOPOGON. A genus of Liliaccce 

 from China and Japan, consisting of herbs, 

 with linear ensiform leaves, and racemes 

 of subsecund flowers terminating the two- 

 edged scape. The perianth is adherent to 

 the ovary at the base, with a six-parted 

 rotate limb ; stamens six with dilated fila- 

 ments ; fruit a one-celled one-seeded berry, 

 or with several seeds, at length exposed 

 by the rupture of the ovary. [J. T. S.] 



OPHIORHIZA. A genus of Cinchonacece 

 deriving its name from the Greek words 

 ophis, a snake, and rhiza, root : the roots of 

 some species being reputed cures for snake- 

 bites. It contains a considerable number 

 of species, usually dwarf perennial herba- 

 ceous or shrubby plants, all of them limited 

 to tropical and eastern subtropical Asia. 

 The leaves are opposite and often unequal, 

 and the flowers sessile in a single row 

 along one side of the branches of terminal 

 (rarely axillary) flower-stalks. The short 

 top-shaped calyx has five persistent teeth, 

 and the corolla a slender tube, five-lobed 

 at the top, with the edges valvate in the 

 bud. The capsules are broad, flat^and two- 

 celled. 



In most countries where venomous 

 snakes abound, the natives highly extol 

 the roots of some plant as a certain remedy 

 for their bites; but these seldom prove effi- 

 cacious in the hands of European practi- 

 tioners, and are often found to have ac- 

 quired their reputation from their snake- 

 like form rather than from their physical 

 properties. Amongst others the roots of 

 O. Mungos are thus used by the Cingalese 

 and the natives of India ; they are most 

 intensely bitter, and may possess some 

 medicinal virtues. The plant is also a na- 

 tive of Java, Sumatra, Penang, &c, and is 

 called Earth-gall by the Malays from its 

 bitterness. [A. SJ 



OPHIOXYLON. A genus of dogbanes, 



Ophioxylon serpentinum. 



distinguished by having a funnel-shaped 

 corolla the border of which is five-cleft 



