Onosma
(from onos, an ass, and osme, smell; said to be grateful to that animal). Golden Drop. Including Maharanga. ORD. Boragineae. A rather large genus (about seventy species, of which, probably, not more than four have been introduced) of hardy, hairy or villous, annual, biennial, or perennial herbs, or sub-shrubs, inhabiting South Europe, North Africa, and West and Central Asia. Flowers yellow, rarely white or purplish, pedicellate or sub-sessile, in simple unilateral racemes or branched cymes; corolla tubular, five-lobed. Leaves alternate. The species thrive in a good deep soil, preferably sandy loam. O. stellulatum, and its variety tauricum, are the best; they should be grown in a well-drained, sunny part of the rockery. Of the perennial species, cuttings should be taken during summer; they may be rooted quickly, if placed in a close frame, and kept shaded for ten or twelve days; water should be given carefully, or the hairy leaves will rot off. The young stock should be well rooted and hardened off before the cold weather sets in. O. echioides requires similar treatment to the foregoing, but, being a biennial, it must be raised from seed each year. The annuals must be sown, in the open border, in April.
O. echioides (Echium-like). fl. pale yellow, drooping, pedicellate, in terminal, conjugate racemes. May. l. spathulate-lanceolate; floral ones, or bracts, ovate-cordate. Stem much branched. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. South Europe, 1683. Tubercularly hispid or strigose, biennial herb. (S. F. G. 172.)
O. simplicissimum (very simple). fl. pale yellow, in few-flowered, terminal racemes; corolla ventricose, inflated at apex, three times as long as the calyx. April. l. sessile, linear, slightly acute, somewhat silky-canescent beneath. Stem erect, very simple. h. 1ft. Siberia, 1768. Perennial herb. (B. M. 2248.) O. stellulatum (small star-like). fl., corolla white, yellow, or citron colour, two or three times longer than the calyx. April. l. straight, linear-oblong, flat, or with revolute margins; radical and lower ones sub-spathulate, obtuse; upper ones lanceolate, acute, sometimes semi-amplexicaul. h. 6in. Macedonia, &c., 1819. Plant suffrutescent at base.
O. s. tauricum (Taurian).* fl. yellow, about 1 1/2in. long, disposed in branched, secund heads. Summer. l. linear-lanceolate, acute, hispid, with revolute edges. Stems branched. h. 6in. to 8in. Caucasus, 1801. Perennial. (B. M. 889.)