O R O 
The feventh fort grows naturally in Siberia ; this hath 
a perennial root, from which arife feveral herbaceous 
ftalks a foot and a half high, garnifhed with winged 
leaves, compofed of four or five pair of oval oblong 
lobes, having at their bafe a roundifh moon-fhaped 
ftipula embracing the ftalk. The flowers come out 
from the wings of the leaves upon fhort foot-ftalks ; 
they are large and of a purple colour, appearing in 
April, and are fucceeded by fwelling pods near two 
inches long, containing four or five feeds, which rip- 
en in June. 
The eighth fort grows naturally in Italy •, this hath a 
perennial root, from which arife feveral ftalks about 
a foot high, garnilhed with winged leaves, compofed 
of four pair of oval lobes, ending in acute points ; 
they are fmooth and of a pale green colour, placed 
pretty far diftant on the midrib. The flowers come 
out upon (lender foot-ftalks, which arife from the 
wings of the leaves, four or five Handing at the top ; 
they are of a purple colour, and appear in March. 
Thefe are fucceeded by fwelling pods an inch and a 
half long, each containing three or four roundifh 
feeds, which ripen in May. 
The ninth fort grows naturally in Jamaica, from 
whence the late Dr. Houftoun fent the feeds in 1731. 
This rifes with a very branching ftalk about three 
feet high, which is ligneous ; the branches are gar- 
nifhed with winged leaves, compofed of five or fix 
pair of narrow fpear-fhaped lobes, which are woolly 
on their under fide. The flowers grow in loofefpikes 
at the end of the branches, are of a pale purple co- 
lour, and are fucceeded by fmooth comprefled pods 
an inch and a half long, each containing five or fix 
roundifh feeds. 
The tenth fort was difcovered by the late Dr. Houf- 
toun at La Vera Cruz, from whence he fent the feeds 
to England. This riles with a fhrubby ftalk five or 
fix feet high, dividing into many (lender branches, 
which are covered with a brown woolly bark, and 
garnilhed with foft, fatteny, winged leaves ; thofe on 
the young branches are compofed of four pair of 
oval obtufe lobes, of a brownifh green colour, hairy 
on their upper fide, but of a filvery filky hue on 
their under. The leaves on the upper branches are 
compofed of feven or eight pair of oblong oval 
lobes, of the fame colour and confiftence as the lower. 
The flowers are produced in long eretft fpikes at the 
end of the branches •, they are of a deep purple colour, 
and are fucceeded by long, woolly, comprefled pods, 
each conraining four or five feeds. 
The eleventh fort was difcovered by Dr. Houftoun at 
La Vera Cruz, who fent it to England in 1730. This 
is a low plant, whofe ftalks bend to the ground, and 
are feldom more than fix or eight inches long, from 
which come out a few fhort fide branches ; they are 
garnilhed with winged leaves, compofed of four or 
five pair of final], oblong, oval, woolly lobes, termi- 
nated by an odd one, the upper lobes being much 
larger than the lower. The flowers come out in fmall 
bunches, {landing upon fhort foot-ftalks, which arife 
from the wings of the ftalk ; they are fmall, and of 
a bright purple colour ; thefe are fucceeded by com- 
prefied pods near two inches long, each having fix or 
feven roundifh comprefled feeds. 
The twelfth fort was difcovered at the fame time, 
growing naturally in the fame country as the former, 
by the fame gentleman. This hath a pretty thick 
ligneous root, which fends out many {lender ftalks a 
foot and a half long, trailing upon the ground, gar- 
nifhed with winged leaves, compofed of three or four 
pair of narrow hoary lobes, about half an inch long. 
The flowers come out from the fide and at the end of 
the ftalks, three or four Handing upon a fhort foot- 
ftalk ; they are fmall and of a fcarlet colour, and are 
fucceeded by fhort taper pods, each containing three/ 
or four fmall roundifh feeds. 
The eightforts which are firft mentioned, have pe- 
rennial roots but annual ftalks, which decay every 
autumn ; feveral of thefe may be propagated by part- 
ing their roots ; the belt time for doing this is in the 
O R Y 
autumn, that the plants may be well eftablifhed be- 
fore the fpring ; for as feveral of them begin to put 
out their ftalks very early in the fpring, fo if they are 
then difturbed, it v/ill either prevent their flowerings 
or caufe their flowers to be very weak. Moft of 
thefe plants delight in a fhady flotation, and love a 
loamy foil. 
They are. alfo propagated by feeds, but thefe flioldd 
he Town in the autumn, for if they are kept out of 
the ground till fpring, many of the forts will never 
grow, and thofe which do, feldom vegetate the fame 
year ; and the fourth fort 1 could never raife from 
feeds, fown in the fpring, though I have made the 
trial in different flotations many times ; but the feeds 
which have fcattered in the fummer, have come up 
well the following fpring, as have alfo thofe which, 
were fown in September. When the plants come up 
they rnuft be kept clean from weeds, and where 
they are too clofe together they fhould be thinned, 
fo as they may have room to grow till the autumn, 
when they fhould be tranfplanted into the places 
where tjiey are defigned to remain. If the roots are 
ftrong, they will flower very well the following fpring, 
but thofe which are weak will not flower till the fe- 
cond year; therefore fuch may be planted in a fhady 
border at four or five inches* diftance, where they 
may grow one year to get ftrength, and then may be 
removed to the places where they are to remain. The 
farther care of them is only to dig the ground between 
them in winter, and in fummer to keep them clean 
from weeds. 
The four laft mentioned forts being natives of warm 
countries are tender, 1b muft be preserved in ftoves, 
otherwife they will not live in England. Thefe are 
propagated by feeds, which fhould be fown early in 
the fpring, in fmall pots filled with light rich earth, 
and plunged into a hot-bed of tanners bark, obferv- 
ing frequently to moiften the earth, otherwife the 
feeds will not grow. When the plants come up, they 
fhould be carefully taken out of the pots, and each 
tranfplanted into leparate fmall pots filled with rick 
earth, and then plunged again into the tan-bed, ob- 
ferving to fhade them until they have taken root; 
after which time they fhould have frefh air admitted 
to them every day in warm weather, and muft be 
frequently watered. With this management the plants 
will make a great progrefs. When any of the plants 
are grown too tall to remain in the hot-bed, they 
fhould be .taken out, and plunged into the bark-bed 
in the ftove, where they may have room to grow* 
efpecially the ninth and tenth forts ; but the other 
two being of humbler growth, may be kept in the 
hot-bed until Michaelmas, when the nights begin to 
be cold ; at which time they fhould be removed into 
the ftove, and plunged into the bark-bed, where they 
muft be treated as other tender exotic plants ; by 
which method they may be preferved through the 
winter, and the following fummer they will produce 
flowers. Thefe plants are perennial, fo that if they 
fhould not perfeft their feeds, the plants may be 
maintained for feveral years. 
ORTEGIA HISPANICA. 
This is called byClufius, Juncaria Salmantica; it is 
a low trailing plant, with Rufh-like ftalks, produ- 
cing at the joints a few fmall almoft invifible flowers, 
therefore the plant is feldom cultivated except in bo- 
tanic gardens for variety. 
ORYZA. Tourn.Inft. R. H. 513. tab. '296. Rice; 
in French, Ris. 
The Characters are, 
The chaff is fmall , acute-pointed , having two valves 
nearly equal , inclofing a Jingle flower. The' petal has two 
valves , which are hollow , comprefled , and boat-fijaped. ' y 
ending in a beard or awn. It has a tzvo-leaved nedtarium , 
and fix hairy Jlamina the length of the petal, terminated 
by funimits whofe bafe are bifid , and a turbinated germen , 
fupporting two reflexed hairy ftyles, crowned by feathered 
fligmas. The germen afterward becomes one large , ob- 
long, comprefled feed , having two channels on each fide, 
fitting on the petal of the fioiver. 
