Omphalodes

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Omphalodes >

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Read about Omphalodes in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Omphalodes (Greek, navel-shaped; referring to the seeds). Boraginaceae. Navelwort. Flower-garden and border plants, something like forget-me-not, not often seen in American gardens. Annual or perennial herbs of low growth, glabrous or sparsely and minutely villous: root-lvs. long-stalked, lanceolate, ovate or cordate; st.-lvs. few, alternate: racemes lax, with or without a leafy bract at the base; calyx 5-parted; corolla-tube very short; lobes 5, imbricated, broad, obtuse; stamens 5, affixed to the tube, included; ovary 4-lobed. From Myosotis it differs in having depressed nutlets and nearly horizontal seeds, while in the forget-me-not genus the nutlets are ovoid, and the seeds erect. Since the cult, material is doubtful, the descriptions given below are adapted mostly from DeCandolle's Prodromus, vol. 10 (1846), with which the pictures cited agree rather poorly. The genus here characterized has the limits understood by Bentham & Hooker, and by Gray.—About two dozen species, native to the Medit. region, Cent. Asia, and Japan; also in Mex. and sparingly in W. U. S. (the latter by some referred to Eritrichium). For O. longiflora, see Lindelophia. The group to which Omphalodes belongs is variously understood by botanists. Of this genus a few low-growing hardy herbs are cultivated, with flowers much like those of forget-me- not, but larger and usually with a white five-pointed star dividing the corolla-lobes. The flowers are often more or less pinkish, particularly toward the center. They like moist situations, but in deep shade grow too luxuriantly; also the flowers are fewer and of a weaker blue. Partial shade or full sunlight is preferable. The commonest kind is the "creeping forget-me-not," O. verna, which is a spring-blooming perennial of easy culture, producing runners freely and easily propagated by division. It can be grown by the yard in a rockery and can be easily naturalized in wild moist half- shaded spots. It is also good for fringing walks. It is said to like best a cool, moist loam, with a few bits of sandstone among which the roots may ramble and from which they may derive coolness and moisture. Perhaps the choicest kind is O. Luciliae, also a spring- blooming perennial, but of tufted habit and impatient of division. It is a native of Asia Minor at a height of 8,000 feet, and grows in fissures of vertical cliffs. It is said to like a loose limestone soil, deep and well drained. When once established it self-sows. O. linifolia is a summer-blooming annual of easy culture. O. verna has a white-flowered kind, which is pretty but to most persons lacks the interest of a blue-flowered forget- me-not. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

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