O N O 
whereas in the preceding they are fhriveiled, and on the 
flowering-ftem leaflefs, Mr. Miller defcribes the corolla 
as pale-yellow, which is certainly a miftake, it being pur¬ 
ple; in other refpebts his defcription accords well enough 
with the plant. It is a native of Swifferland; and was cul¬ 
tivated here in 1570 by Mr. Hugh Morgan, as appears 
from Lobel. It flowers from May to July. 
34.. Ononis microphylla, or fmall-leaved reft-harrow : 
fhrubby, thorny; leaves minute, ternate, quite entire; 
legumes recurved. This flirub is very much branched, 
fomewhat fpreading, and armed with flout thorns. Na¬ 
tive of the Cape of Good Hope, where it was found by 
Thun berg. 
35. Ononis Mauritanica, or Barbary reft-harrow: 
fhrubby ; leaves quinate, obovate, mucronate, filky un¬ 
derneath ; ftipules filiform ; peduncles racemed. Leaf¬ 
lets in fives, befides the minute ftipules. Native of the 
Cape. In the Species Plantarum, Linnaeus defcribes this 
under the. name of Lotus, as a fmall flirub, with filiform 
ftiffiih branches, 
V. Dubious. 
36. Ononis fubocculta: flowers feflile 5 all the leaves 
ternate ; leaflets orbiculate ; ftipules lanceolate, ferrate ; 
calyxes of the fame length with the corolla. This re- 
fembles O. minutiflima, and has been taken by mod au¬ 
thors for the fame plant. Allione and Villars, however, 
regard it as diftinft. The Items are of the fame fize, and 
have the fame habit; but in this the whole plant, not ex¬ 
cepting the fruit, is villofe and a little clammy ; the leaf¬ 
lets are round, with the teeth ftraight and (hallow; the 
ftipules are ruffet, lefs hard and toothed, not blackifh, 
awned, and entire; the calycine leaflets are lefs hard, 
(horter, and do not terminate in an awn ; the flower is 
fmaller, and yet is of the fame length with the calyx, as 
well as the fruit. It is Angular, that in autumn the pe¬ 
tals become fo fmall as to be concealed under the germ, 
at the bottom of the calyx, fo as not to be feen; the fruit, 
however, is not on this account abortive. All parts of 
the flower are ftraight, diftinft, not touching each other, 
but pale and flat, and feeming to be the commencement 
of a regular flower of four unequal petals. This plant is 
more frequently found thus than with the flowers deve¬ 
loped, coloured, and equal in length to the calyx. Hence 
the name of fubocculta. Native of Dauphine, the county 
of Nice, &c. Allione affirms it to be perennial, but Vil¬ 
lars rather takes it to be biennial. 
37. Ononis ftriata: ftems proftrate; leaves ternate, 
fmooth, ftriated 5 ftipules ovate, acute, ferrate; pedun¬ 
cles one-flowered ; calyxes and legumes hirfute. This 
approaches to the preceding, and the minutiflima in fize, 
but is a little different in habit. A hard knobbed peren¬ 
nial root, full of tubercles, furnifhes feveral creeping 
ftems, commonly Ample, from four to fix inches in length. 
They have few leaves on their lower part, and at top have 
a parcel of yellow flowers in a raceme. The whole plant 
has the habit rather of Medicago falcata than an Ononis. 
Native of Dauphine, but rare. 
38. Ononis decumbens: leaves ternate, linear-lanceo¬ 
late ; ftem decumbent; flowers in axillary fpikes; le¬ 
gumes fmooth. This is a perennial plant, from whofe 
roots come out feveral pretty ftrong branches, which 
fpread and incline towards the ground. The flowers 
come out in loofe panicles at the end of the branches ; 
they are yellow, and are fucceeded by fmooth turgid pods 
about half an inch long, each containing two or three 
kidney-fhaped feeds. It flowers in July; and the feeds 
fometimes ripen here in the autumn. It was difcovered 
by Dr. Houftoun at La Vera Cruz in New Spain, whence 
he fent the feeds to England. This fpecies is omitted in 
the quarto edition of Miller‘s Dictionary. 
Propagation and Culture. The common wild forts of 
Ononis are very troublefome weeds in pafture and corn 
fields ; the roots fpreading and multiplying greatly in 
the ground, and being fo tough and ftrong, that the 
Vox.. XVII. No. 1193. 
O N O 497 
plough-fhare will fcarcely cut through them. They are 
only cultivated in hptanic gardens. 
The fhrubby forts are propagated by feeds fown upon 
a bed of light earth in April. The plants will come up 
in May, when they muft be kept clean from weeds; and, 
if they are too clofe, fome of them fhould be carefully 
drawn up in moift weather, and tranfplanted at four or 
five inches diftance ; in the autumn they (hould be tranf¬ 
planted again to the places where they are to remain. 
Thofe plants which were left growing in the bed where 
they were fown, muft be treated in the fame way. Thefe 
will not thrive in pots. They flower the fecond year, 
when they make a fine appearance during the conti¬ 
nuance of their flowers. The twenty-ninth fort is too 
tender to thrive in the open air in England, unlefs it be 
planted in a warm fituation, and in very fevere froft co¬ 
vered to proteCt it. The feeds of this muft be fown on a 
warm flieltered border, being impatient of cold. The 
thirty-fecond will thrive very w’ell in a fliady border, and 
produce feeds in plenty. According to Mr. Curtis, the 
fituation it affeCts is dry and fandy; but it is by no means 
nice as to foil or place, and is fo hardy as to bear the fe- 
verity even of a hard winter. In the collections about 
London it is frequently found in pots, and kept with 
greenhoufe-plants. The beft mode of railing it is from 
feed. 
The thirty-third fort flowers in our open borders, and 
ripens its feed, by which it is in general propagated. It 
may alfo be increafed by flips, is very hardy, and eafy of 
culture. Its beauty has gained it a general admiflion into 
our nurferies. See Anthyllis, Glycine, Lotus, and 
Psoralea. 
ONOO-AFOU'. See Proby’s Island. 
ONOPOR'DUM, f. [a name to be found in the works 
of Pliny, derived from ovo?, an afs, and rrrs^u, to explode 
backwards. Mr. Profeflor Martyn, by way of iiluftrating 
this derivation, fays that it means crepitus afini. But 
from what caufe this whimfical appellation is beltowed on 
the prefent genus, it is difficult to determine. See Lyco- 
perdon.] Cotton-Thistle ; in botany, a genus of the 
clafs fyngenefia, order polygamia sequalis, natural order 
of compolitae capitatse, (cinarocephalae, Jujf.) Generic 
characters—Calyx: common roundilh, ventricofe, im¬ 
bricate ; (bales numerous, fpiny, prominent every way. 
Corolla: compound tubular, uniform; corollets herma¬ 
phrodite, equal: proper one-petalled, funnel-form ; tube 
very (lender; border upright, ventricofe, five-cleft; feg- 
ments equal, one more deeply feparated. Stamina : fila¬ 
ments five, capillary, very fhort; antherae cylindric, tu¬ 
bular, the length ot the corolla, five-toothed. Piftillum : 
germen ovate ; ltyle filiform, longer than the ftamens; 
ltigma crowned. Pericarpium : none; calyx (lightly con¬ 
verging. Seeds: folitary; down capillary, feffde. Re¬ 
ceptacle : chaffy ; chaffs coadunate into the cells, trun¬ 
cate, mucronate, (horter than the feeds.— Ejjeutial Cha¬ 
rade)-. Calyx-fcales mucronate; receptacle honey-combed. 
There are eleven fpecies. 
1. Onopordum acanthium, woolly onopordum, or cot- 
ton-thiftle : calyxes lquarrofe ; (bales fpreading ; leaves 
ovate-oblong, iinuated. Thefe are in general tall large 
herbaceous plants, with great leaves, like thofe of Acan¬ 
thus, prickly, and frequently tomentofe. 
The cotton-thiftle, the firft year, puts out many large 
downy leaves, Iinuated on their edges, and very prickly; 
they Spread on the ground, and continue the following 
winter. In the fpring the (talk arifes in the middle of the 
leaves, upon dunghills or good ground, growing five or 
fix feet high, and dividing at top into many branches, 
wdiich have leafy borders running along them, indented, 
and each indenture terminated by a (pine. The (talks 
are terminated by fcaly heads of purple flowers, appear¬ 
ing in June. To thefe fucceed oblong angular leeds 
crowned with a hairy down. The whole plant is gene¬ 
rally covered with a clofe down, giving it a whitilh-green 
6 L colour. 
