ORN 
■ORN 1 THOPUS. Lin. Gen. Plant. 790. Ornitho- 
podium. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 400. tab. 224. Bird’s- 
foot 5 in French, Pie-d’oifeau. 
The Characters are. 
The empalement of the flower is permanent , of one leaf 
tubulous , and indented in five equal fegments at the brim. 
The flower is of the butterfly kind , the ftandard is he art - 
ftoaped and entire the wings are oval , ere hi, and almoft 
as large as the ftandard ; the keel is fmad and com- 
preffed. It hath ten ft amina, nine of which are joined, 
and one ftands feparate, terminated by Jingle fummits. The 
germen is narrow , fupporting a briftly afcending ftyle, 
terminated by a punhlured ftigma. The germen afterward 
becomes a taper incurved pod, having many joints con- 
nected together, but when ripe feparate, each containing 
one oblong feed. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the third feftion of 
Linnaeus’s feventeenth clafs, which includes the plants 
whofe flowers have ten ftamina joined in two bodies. 
The Species are, 
1. Ornithopus (. Perpujjllus ) foliis pinnatis, leguminibus 
comprefiis fubarcuatis. Hort. Upfal. 234. Bird's-foot 
with winged leaves , and comprejfed pods a little arched. 
Ornithopodium majus. C.B.'P. 350. Greater Bird’s-foot. 
2. Ornithopus ( Nodofa ) foliis pinnatis, leguminibus 
confertis pedunculatis. Bird’s-foot with winged leaves , 
and pods growing in clufters upon foot-ftalks. Ornitho- 
podium radice tuberculis nodosa. C. B. P. 350. Bird’s- 
foot with knobbed tubercular roots . 
3. Ornithopus {Comprejfus) foliis pinnatis, pinnis legu- 
minibus compreflis rugofus. Hort. Cliff. 364. Bird’s- 
foot with linear winged leaves, and comprejfed pods grow- 
ing in pairs. Ornithopodium Scorpoides, filiqua com- 
prefsa. Tourn. Inft. 400. Bird’s-foot with the appear- 
ance of Caterpillar, and flat pods. 
4. Ornithopus ( Scorpioides ) foliis ternatis fubfefiilibus 
impari maximo. Hort. Cliff. 364. Bird’s-foot with tri- 
foliate leaves fitting clofe to the ftalk, and the middle lobe 
very large. Ornithopodium Portulacte folio. Tourn. 
Inft. 400. Bird’s-foot with a Purflane leaf. 
The firftfort grows naturally in the fouth of France, 
in Spain and Italy. It is an annual plant, having many 
trailing ftalks a foot and a half long, from which come 
out a few fide branches, garniftied with long winged 
leaves, compofed of about eighteen pair of fmall oval 
lobes, terminated by an odd one ; thefe lobes ftand 
fometimes oppofite, and at others they are alternate 
and hairy. The flowers are produced in fmall clufters 
at the top of foot-ftalks, which arife from the wings 
of the ftalks, and are near three inches long, having 
a fmall winged leaf, part of which is below, and the 
other part above the flowers, fo that they feem to 
come from the midrib of the leaf ; the flowers are of 
a deep gold colour, and fhaped like a butterfly. 
Thefe appear in July, and are fucceeded by flat nar- 
row pods about three inches long, which turn inward 
at the top like a bird’s claw. They are jointed, and 
a little' hairy, containing a Angle feed in each joint, 
which ripens in autumn, when the joints feparate and 
fall afunder. 
The fecond fort grows naturally on dry commons 
and heaths in moft parts of England. The root of 
this fort is compofed of two or three ftrong fibres, to 
which hang feveral fmall tubercles or knobs like 
grains. There are many (lender ftalks come out 
from the root, and lpread on the ground, from 
four to eight inches long, garniftied with fmall, 
winged, hairy leaves, compofed of fix or feven pair 
of narrow lobes, terminated by an odd one. The 
flowers ftand upon long (lender foot-ftalks, which 
come out at every joint of the ftalk ^ they are fmall, 
of a yellow colour, and are fucceeded by clufters of 
fhort pods, which are a little incurved at the top. 
It flowers and feeds about the fame time as the former. 
The third fort grows plentifully about Meflina and 
Naples. The root of this fort runs deep into the 
ground, fending out a few fmall fibres on the fide' 1 
the ftalks are about fix inches long, and do not lie flat 
on the ground like the other \ the leaves are hairy, 
compofed of ten or twelve pair of narrow lobes placed 
O R O 
along the midrib, terminated by an odd one. The 
flowers grow in fmall bunches on the top of the 
branches j they are yellow, and are generally fuc- 
ceeded by two flat pods not much more than an inch 
long, turned inward like a bird’s claw. This flowers 
and feeds about the fame time with the former. 
The fourth fort grows naturally among the Corn in 
Spain and Italy ; this hath many fmooth branching 
ftalks, which rife near two feet high, garniftied toward 
their top with trifoliate oval leaves fitting clofe, hav- 
ing two fmall appendages. The lower leaves are often 
Angle, and of a grayilh colour, the middle lobe being 
twice the fize of the two fide ones. The (lowers 
ftand upon (lender foot-ftalks, are yellow, and fuc- 
ceeded by taper pods, which are two inches long, 
(haped like a bird’s claw. This flowers and feeds about 
the fame time with the former. 
Thefe plants are propagated by fowing their feeds in 
the fpring upon a bed of light frefh earth, where they 
are to remain (for they feldom do well when they are 
tranfplanted -,) when the plants come up, they muft 
be carefully cleared from weeds •, and where they are 
too clofe, fame of the plants (hould be pulled out, fa 
as to leave the remaining ones about ten inches afun- 
der. In June thefe plants will flower, and the feeds 
will ripen in Auguft. There is no great beauty in 
them, but for the variety of their jointed pods, they 
are preferved by fome curious perfons in their plea- 
fure-gardens j where, if their feeds are fown in patches 
in the borders, each fort diftin&ly by itfelf, and the. 
plants thinned, leaving only two at each patch, they 
will require no farther care, and will add to the vari- 
ety, efpecially where the Snail and Caterpillar plants 
are preferved, which are very proper to intermix with 
them. They are all annual plants, which perilh foon 
after the feeds are ripe. 
OROBANCHE, or Broom Rape. 
There are fix or feven fpecies of this genus at prefent 
known, two of which grow naturally on dry grounds 
in feveral parts of England ; but as all the forts do 
not agree with culture, fo they are not admitted into 
gardens. They are ranged in the fecond fe&ion of 
Linnseus’s fourteenth clafs, intitled Didynamia An- 
giofpermia, the flowers having two long and two 
(horter ftamina, and their feeds being included in a 
capfule. 
O ROB US. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 393. tab. 214. Lin. 
Gen. Plant. 780. [opoG@n, of Iflmru, to eat, (3«f, an 
ox, q. d. an herb with which oxen are fed, becaufe 
the ancients ufed to fatten their oxen with a like herb.] 
Bitter Vetch ; in French, Orobe. 
The Characters are. 
The empalement of the flower is tubulous, of one leaf , with 
an obtufe bafe •, the brim is oblique and indented in five 
parts, the three lower acute, the two upper fhorter and ob- 
tufe. The flower is of the butterfly kind the ftandard is 
heart-fhaped -, the two wings are almoft as long as the 
ftandard, and join together •, the keel is bifid, acute-pointed , 
and rifling upwards \ the borders are comprejfed, and the 
body fwollen. It hath ten ftamina , nine are joined, and 
one feparate •, thefe are rifling, and terminated by roundijh 
jummits. It hath a cylindrical comprejfed germen, jup- 
porting a crooked rifling ftyle, crowned by a narrow downy 
ftigma, faftened by the inner edge in the middle to the 
point of the ftyle. The germen afterward becomes a long 
taper pod ending in an acute point , having one cell, contain- 
ing feveral roundijh fleeds. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the third fe&ion of 
Linnams’s feventeenth clafs, which contains thofe 
plants whofe flowers have ten ftamina joined in two 
bodies. 
The Species are, 
1. Orobus (i Verms' ) foliis pinnatis ovatis, ftipulis femi- 
fagittatis integerrimis, caule (implici. Lin. Sp. Plant. 
728. Bitter Vetch with oval winged leaves, entire ftipul a 
half arrow-pointed , and a jingle ftalk. Orobus fyl vari- 
ous purpureus vernus. C. B. P. 351. Purple, vernal , 
wood Bitter Vetch. 
2. Orobus {T uberofus) foliis pinnatis lanceolatis, ftipulis 
femifagittatis, caule fimplici. Lin, Sp. Plant. 728. 
Bitter 
