ROCHEA 
close of the 16th century. Its root comprises a 
cluster of cloves or bulbs like garlic; its stem is 
about 3 feet high, and bears at its top many 
small cloves which, as well as those of the root, 
are used for culinary purposes; and its flowers 
have a light purple colour, and bloom in July. 
A very small bed of this plant affords a sufficient 
supply to the largest family. The separated 
root-cloves may be planted by dibbling in Feb- 
ruary, March, or April; and they will acquire 
full growth in July or August.—A taller species 
of garlic, with pale red flowers, a native of Greece, 
and introduced thence to Britain, Allium ophios- 
corodon, is also sometimes called rocambole. 
ROCCELLA. See Orcutt. 
ROCHEA. A small genus of ornamental, ev- 
ergreen, shrubby greenhouse plants, of the cras- 
sulaceous order. The sickle-leaved species, 7. 
falcata—called by Linneeus Crassula falcata—was 
introduced to Britain about 53 years ago from 
the Cape of Good Hope. It has a height of about 
3 feet, and blooms from June till September. It 
thrives best in a mixture of loam and peat and 
sand, and loves a full exposure to the heat and 
light of the sun’s rays.—The perfoliate species, 
| £. perfoliata, is taller than the preceding, and 
comprises two kinds with respectively scarlet 
and white flowers. 
ROCHELLE SALT. The tartrate of soda 
and potash. It isa pharmaceutical preparation; 
and occurs in large, regular, hard, transparent, 
prismatic, six-sided or even ten or twelve-sided 
crystals; and has a bitterish saline taste; and 
acts as a mild and cooling cathartic. 
ROCKET,—botanically Hesperis. A genus of 
ornamental herbaceous plants, of the cruciferous 
order. One species grows wild in Britain; nearly 
20 have been introduced from other countries; 
and a few more are known. All the kinds in 
Britain are hardy; and they vary in height from 
6 inches to 4 or 5 feet ; and two are annuals, six 
or seven are perennials, and the rest are biennials. 
The matronly rocket, Hesperis matronalis, con- 
centrates in itself the chief interest of the genus; 
and is par excellence the rocket of all sorts of com- 
mon flower-gardens. It is a native of Italy, and 
was introduced to Britain toward the close of the 
16th century. Its stem is erect, and has a height 
of from 1} to nearly 5 feet according to the va- 
riety and the culture; its leaves sit close to the 
stem, and are spear-shaped, pointed, and den- 
tated ; and its flowers come out in a loose thyrse 
on the top of the stem, and have a deep purple 
colour, and emit a delightfully sweet fragrance, 
especially in the evening or in cloudy weather, 
and bloom from May till August. It may be re- 
garded either as a long-lived biennial or as a 
very short-lived perennial ; and, in all its varie- 
ties, especially in the finer ones, it is most con- 
veniently and effectively propagated by division 
of the roots ; and the new plants of it are parti- 
cularly vigorous and handsome when they are 
raised from roots whose stems have been headed 
RODRIGUEZIA. 
63 
down and prevented from flowering. Its best 
and most distinct varieties are the white-flower- 
ed, the double white-flowered, the double red- 
flowered, the variegated double-flowered, and the 
leaf-flowered; and good plants of some of these 
carry close, dense spikes of flowers, somewhat in 
the style of prime double-flowered stocks. The 
matronly rocket is said by Boerhaave to be anti- 
scorbutic and diaphoretic, and of great service 
in asthmas, coughs, and convulsions; and it has 
been recommended also as an external applica- 
tion in cases of cancer, gangrene, inflammation, 
and contagious diseases; but it dues not appear 
to have really any appreciable medicinal virtue. 
—The indigenous rocket, Hesperis inodora, inha- 
bits the pastures of some parts of Britain ; and 
very much resembles the matronly rocket, and is 
ranked by Decandolle as merely a variety of it, 
and has a place by the side of it in some gar- 
dens; but its flowers are pink-coloured, and have 
no fragrance, and do not continue so long in 
bloom. 
ROCKET,—botanically Zruca, A small genus 
of hardy annual plants, of the cruciferous order. 
The cultivated species, Hruca sativa,—called by 
Linneus Brassica eruca,—is a native of the South 
of Europe, and was introduced to Britain in the 
latter part of the 16th century; and it comprises 
eight or nine varieties, all of which were formerly 
in some request as salad plants. Its leaves rise 
numerously from the root-crown, and are spear- 
shaped and indented and 4 or 5 inches long, and 
spread on the ground ; its flower-stem is solitary, 
and rises to the height of from 12 to 21 inches; 
and its flowers grow in loose bunches at the top 
of the stem, and are white in some varieties, yel- 
low in others, and pale yellow in others, and are 
succeeded by long two-celled pods, filled with 
small round seeds. When this plant is used as a 
salad, it requires to be eaten young, and only in 
winter or spring; for it is too strong and rank 
when old or in summer or autumn. Its quali- 
ties, in fact, are too biting ; and gave rise to the 
name eruca, from a word signifying to burn; 
and have eventually brought it into general 
neglect. It formerly took rank among medi- 
cinal plants as a good diuretic. 
ROCKET (Cress). See Cruss-Rocker. 
ROCKET (Sra). See Caxre. 
ROCK-ROSE. See Cistus. 
RODRIGUEZIA. A genus of ornamental, 
epiphytous, tropical plants, of the vanda division 
of the orchidaceous order. The side-flowering 
species, 2. secunda, is an elegant, red-flowered, 
October-blooming plant of a few inches in height, 
and was introduced to Britain about 30 years 
ago from South America. The crisped species, 
R. crispa, has singular-looking crisped flowers, of 
a dull sea-green colour, bordered with yellow, 
and emitting a fragrance similar to that of the 
primrose ; and was introduced to Britain 10 or 
12 years ago from the Organ mountains of Bra- 
zil. Several other species have been introduced. 
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