SWEET-SMELLING PLANTS 



85 



choly and maketli a man merry and glad.' In France so mncli 

 esteemed is this herb that it takes a foremost place in the composi- 

 tion of almost all their soups and sauces. Keats's pathetic tale of 

 the fair Italian maiden whose lover had been secretly put to death 

 by her brothers, and whose corpse she ultunately discovered and 

 buried in her bed of Easily is daintily expressed in his poems. 



0. pilosum has a pleasant Lemon odour ; 0. huUatum, 0. gratis- 

 simum, and 0. canum are all fragrant and aromatic. 

 Odontoglossum. See Orchids. 



CEnothera [Evening Floicer, Evening Primrose). — A genus of amiual 

 or herbaceous plants from America. Amongst the best-kno^^n 

 varieties are the following : — (E. odorata, a perennial kind, with 

 yellow fragrant flowers ; (E. tetraptera, with large white flowers 

 opening in the evening and dying at mom ; (E. noctimia, with 

 yellow night-opening blossoms, exceedingly fragrant; (E. linearis, 

 soft pale yellow flowers ; (E. marginata, white changing to pink, and 

 emitting a delicious magnolia-like scent towards night, and (E. 

 triloba. 



Olea fragrans. — A shrubby tree, common to the South of Europe and 

 Central Asia. The leaves and white flowers are highly odoriferous 

 and are used to flavour tea, and the scent they impart is more abid- 

 ing than that of any other plant employed for the purpose. 0. rnyrti- 

 folia is equally attractive. These two species represent a family 

 some varieties of which are valuable in the commercial world. 



Olearia (Daisy Bush). — A genus of Australian shrubs, with leaves 

 that have a delicious musky odour, notably apparent in 0. argo- 

 2j1ujUus and 0. clirysophylla. 



Oncidium. See Orchids. 



Onosma albo rosea. — A perennial evergreen Alpine plant from South- 

 East Europe, bearmg tubular white flowers, which emit a delicate 

 Almond-like fragrance. 0. tairriciim, popularly known as Golden 

 Drop, is another daintly scented variety. 



Orange. See Citrus. 



' The Orange flower perfumes the bower, 

 Breeze, bird, and flower confess the hour.' — Scott. 



* Odours of Orange flower and spice 

 Reached them from time to time, 

 Like airs that breathe from paradise 

 Upon a world of crime. ' — Loxgfellow. 



Orchidaceous plants. — A remarkably handsome and deservedly 

 popular group, consisting of herbaceous perennial plants or shrubs : in 

 temperate clmiates assuming a terrestrial habit, in warmer latitudes 

 growing on trees or fixing themselves to rocks or stones. Orchids 



