Odontospermum
(from odous, odontos, a tooth, and sperma, a seed; the pappus of the seeds is toothed). SYNS. Asteriscus, Nauplius. ORD. Compositoe. A genus comprising about eight species of hardy or greenhouse, annual or perennial herbs, rarely shrubby, natives of the Mediterranean and Canary region, from the Orient to the Cape de Verde Islands. Flower-heads yellow, mediocre or rather large, heterogamous; involucre hemispherical or broadly campanulate; receptacle slightly convex; achenes villous or glabrescent. Leaves opposite, entire, or rarely toothed or sub-pinnatifid. The first of the undermentioned species requires similar treatment to that found necessary for common hardy annuals: sow the seeds in the open border, in spring, and thin out the seedlings somewhat, if too thick, to allow each plant to develop. M. sericeum, a handsome dwarf shrub, does well in a cool greenhouse, in a compost of well-drained turfy loam and leaf mould, and is propagated by cuttings of the half-ripened young shoots.
O. aquaticum (aquatic). fl.-heads sessile, axillary and terminal. July. l. oblong, obtuse, villous or slightly glabrous. Stem erect, di- or trichotomous. h. 6in. South Europe, 1731. Hardy annual. (S. F. G. 899, under name of Buphthalmum aquaticum.) O. sericeum (silky). fl.-heads terminal and lateral, sessile. June. l. cuneate or linear, entire, silky-villous. Stem shrubby, branched. h. 4ft. Canaries, 1779. Greenhouse. (B. M. 1836, under name of Buphthalmum sericeum.)