S31 



€l)£ CrraSurn at 28ctaii|?. 



[OXYC 



large flowers in axillary cymes. The calyx 

 ; is four-parted, and the corolla funnel- 

 j shaped, ventricose, and slightly bent, with 

 I a four-cleft limb; of the four didynamous 

 I stamens the two posterior are short and 

 fertile, the others are exsertedand barren. 

 The ovary, placed on a fleshy disk, is four- 

 celled and four-lobed, with a single ovule 

 in each cell. The genus is nearly related 

 to Clerodendroii and Cycionema. [W. CJ 



OXHOOF. A Brazilian name for Caulo- 

 tretus microstachyus, and various species of 

 Bauhinia. 



OX-EYE. BupMhalmum; also Chrysan- 

 themum Leucanthemum, and Anthemis ar- 

 vensis. — , CREEPING. Wedelia carnosa. 

 — , SEASIDE. Borrichia arborescens. 



OXLIP. Primula elatior. 



OX-HEEL, or OX-HEAL. Eelleborus fce- 

 tidus. 



OX-HORN. Bncida Buceras. 



OX-TONGUE. Helminthia ; also Anchusa 

 officinalis. 



! OXLEYA. A genus of Cedrelacece, re- 

 ! presented by 0. xanthoxyla, a tree forty- 

 ! five to fifty feet high, and six feet in cir- 

 cumference, producing the Yellow Wood of 

 Queensland. The foliage is of dark green 

 \ and sombre aspect, the leaves imparipin- 

 1 nate; while the flowers appear in racemes, 

 and are small, white, and inconspicuous, 

 according to Bennett. The fruit is a woody 

 I capsule, with spiny tubercles on the sur- 

 face, five-celled, each cell enclosing three 

 winged seeds. The first discoverer of 

 the tree was Allan Cunningham, Colonial 

 Botanist in New South Wales. * [B. S.] 



OXYACANTHA. Cratcegus Oxyacantha. 



OXYANTHUS. A genus of tropical AM 



can Oinchonacece, consisting of shrubs, with 



I elliptic pointed leaves and axillary eorymb- 



I like racemes of large flowers ; these have 



i a sharply flve-toothed calyx-limb, and a 



I salver-shaped corolla, with a very long 



] slender tube, from which the five anthers 



project. The ovary is adherent to the tube 



I of the calyx, two-celled, and surmounted 



: by an epigynous disk. The genus is closely 



! allied to Gardenia, but is distinguished by 



j its large corolla, its inflorescence, &c. The 



name, signifying ' sharp-flower,' is applied 



in allusion to the acute pointed segments 



of the limb of the corolla. 0. speciosus 



and others are highly ornamental stove 



! plants. [M. T. M.j 



I OXYBAPHUS. One of the genera of 



j Nyctaginacece. The species are herbaceous 



! plants, natives of tropical America, and 



have opposite leaves, and flowers arranged 



in corymbs at the end of the branches, 



surrounded by a bell-shaped five-cleft per- 



i sistent involucre. The perianth is pink- 



i coloured and has a short dilated tube, 



' which is persistent, while the plaited five- 



lobed limb is deciduous ; stamens three, 



I united at the base into a very short tube. 



j Fruit surrounded by the hardened base 



of the perianth, and by the enlarged mem- 



branaceous involucre. Calymenia and 

 Calyxhymenia are synonyms. [M. T. M.] 



OXYCARYUM. A genus of cyperaceous 

 plants belonging to the tribe Scirpea?. The 

 inflorescence is in dense heads of crowded 

 spikelets, umbellately disposed ; spikelets 

 many-flowered ; scales membranaceous at 

 the base ; styles cleft, persistent, decurrent 

 at the base ; stamens two. O. Schomburgk- 

 ianum, a native of Guiana, is the only 

 species described. [D. M.] 



OXYCOCCOS. The Cranberry genus, a 

 group of the Vacciniacece, comprising three 

 species— 0. palustris, macrocarpus, and 

 erectus. The name is derived from oxys, 

 sharp, and kokkos, a berry, the fruit having 

 a sharp acid taste ; that of Cranberry, ac- 

 cording to some, comes from the crooked 

 peduncle together with the unexpanded 

 flower resembling the head and neck of a 

 crane, but according to others, and with 

 greater probability, because the berries are 

 eaten by cranes ; just as the fruit of the . 

 Empetrum nigrum is called the Crowberry, I 

 because where this is plentiful the crows, 

 and more especially the rooks, leave the 

 fields and resort to the hills, where they 

 live on the berries till harvest-time. 



0. palustris, the Common Cranberry, is a 

 native of Britain ; and is indigenous also 

 to the mountainous parts of Europe, Sibe- 

 ria, and North America. It grows in turfy 

 bogs, the stems creeping and slender, with 

 small ovate leaves revolute at the edges, 

 and terminal pink or rose-coloured pedicels 

 bearing each a single flower. The berries 

 are roundish pear-shaped, and of a crimson 

 colour. 



In the form of tarts, preserves, &c, the 

 fruit is grateful to most people, and many 

 in this country prefer the flavour of the 

 native species to that of the imported Ame- 

 rican fruit produced by 0. macrocarpus. 

 Before the bogs in Lincolnshire were drain- 

 ed, the common Cranberry was sold in 

 Norwich by cartloads. According to Light- 

 foot, as much as twenty to thirty pounds' 

 worth of the fruit was sold by the poor 

 people each market-day, for five or six 

 weeks, in the town of Langton, on the 

 borders of Cumberland— a considerable sum 

 to be picked up from otherwise barren 

 wastes, ina thinly inhabited district. Large 

 quantities, for use in tarts, are imported 

 from Russia. According to Don's Miller, 

 the berries are used in Sweden to boil 

 silver plate in,in order to render it white by 

 the action of the acid which they contain. 

 This plant is the badge of the Grants. 



The Large-fruited or American Cran- 

 berry, 0. macrocarpus, which is also of 

 slender creeping habit, and has elliptic ob- 

 tuse nearly flat leaves, bears spherical 

 berries, larger and of a brighter red than 

 those of the common sort; they ripen in 

 October and successionally, often remain- 

 ing on the plant throughout the winter. 

 It is found from Canada to Virginia, in 

 bogs, principally on a sandy soil. The ber- 

 ries are collected in large quantities, and 

 form an article of export to Britain and 

 other parts of Europe. The American Cran- 



