Ottelia
(said to be derived from Ottel, the native name in Malabar). SYN. Damasonium. ORD. Hydrocharideae. A genus comprising six or seven species of short-stemmed, stove or greenhouse, aquatic herbs, natives of tropical Asia, Japan, Australia, the Mascarene Islands, tropical and sub-tropical Africa, and Brazil. Flowers hermaphrodite, in a tubular, shortly bifid, solitary spathe, sessile; calyx segments oblong or linear, rigid, membranous; perianth segments much larger, broadly ovate or orbiculate. Leaves clustered, some submerged on short petioles, others long-stalked, floating, ovate-oblong or very broadly cordate. The undermentioned species, the only ones yet introduced, require to be grown in a cistern or pan of water, placed in the stove. Propagation is effected by seeds.
O. indica (Indian). fl. white, on radical, naked, one-flowered scapes; perianth segments roundly-obovate, undulately striate, twice as long as the calyx segments. August. l. broadly ovate, about 6in. each way, costate-nerved, very brittle. Rootstock and fibres yellow. East Indies, 1800. (B. M. 1201, under name of Damasonium indicum.) O. ovalifolia (oval-leaved).* fl., outer perianth segments green, 3/4in. to 1in. long; inner ones pale yellow, 1 1/2in. to 2in. in diameter; spathe about 1 1/2in. long. Summer. l. ovate or oblong, 2in. to 4in. long when perfect, obtuse, rounded at the base, scarcely or not at all cordate. Australia.