Opercularia
(from operculum, a lid; referring to the shape of the calyx). ORD. Rubiaceae. A genus comprising fourteen species of Australian greenhouse herbs or sub-shrubs, sometimes twining, glabrous or hispid-pilose, often foetid. Flower-heads white, small, terminal, or rising from the forks of the branches, involucrate; peduncles erect or recurved. Leaves opposite, linear or oblong; stipules connate with the petioles. The species (of which two only are seen in cultivation) thrive in a compost of sandy loam, a little fibry peat, dried pieces of leaf mould, and a few pieces of charcoal. Propagation may be effected by seeds, sown in spring, on a mild hotbed; by cuttings of young shoots, several inches long; or by division, as growth commences.
O. aspera (rough). fl.-heads globular, compound, on short, recurved peduncles. June. l. shortly petiolate, ovate or lanceolate, scabrous above, glabrous or pubescent beneath, mostly 1/2in. to 1 1/2in. long, variable. h. 1ft. 1790. Sub-shrub. SYN. O. ocymifolia.
O. hispida (hispid). fl.-heads on short, recurved peduncles, smaller than in O. aspera. July. l. petiolate, ovate or lanceolate, either very hirsute and scarcely scabrous, or very scabrous, mostly about 1/2in. long. h. 1ft. 1790. Sub-shrub.
O. ocymifolia (Basil-leaved). A synonym of O. aspera.