Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/788

 774 OYSTER GREEN the flesh is dark and tough, and not fit for food. The pied oyster catcher or sea pie (H. ostra- legus, Linn.) of Europe much resembles the American bird, but is smaller, and has the bill less deep at the bulging part, less sharp-point- ed, and proportionally shorter ; it has similar habits, and may be readily domesticated. OYSTER GREEN, a name given to marine algse of the genus ulva, which are also called green laver and sea lettuce. The ulvas belong to the chlorospermous class of seaweeds, distinguished by their green spores, and the generally green color of their fronds. There are several species of ulva common to both shores of the Atlan- tic, the most abundant on our coast being U. latissima and U. lactuca ; they are from 3 in. to 2 ft. long, and 3 to 12 in. broad, often sinu- ous on the margin, and wavy or plaited ; they are very thin, smooth, and glassy, and appear like very fine bright green silk. The plants are very common on oyster beds, and are fre- quently used by dealers to decorate their heaps of oysters. The plant is the most valuable sea- weed for a salt-water aquarium, it being one of the few that will thrive and give off oxygen in the quiet waters of a marine tank. Among the seaweeds eaten in Europe, under the im- pression that they have some antiscorbutic properties, is the true laver, the related porphy- ra ; and the ulvas are eaten raw, with lemon juice, as green laver. In Scotland they are sometimes used as a remedy for headache, being bound over the forehead. OYSTER PLANT, one of the names for trago- pogon porrifolius, which is also called salsify (Fr. salsifis). The genus tragopogon (Gr. T pa- yog, a goat, and TTW/WV, beard) belongs to that division of the composite family (liguliflora} which includes the dandelion and the lettuce ; the species porrifolius (leek-leaved) grows spontaneously in England and on the conti- nent, but is supposed to have been introduced from the Mediterranean region. With us it is known only as a garden vegetable, and its use has increased remarkably within a few years. It is a biennial, with a tapering root 10 to 14 in. long and rarely more than an inch in diam- eter at the top ; the leaves, a foot or more long, are narrow and tapering upward, of a dull green; the second year flower stalks 3 to 5 ft. high are thrown up, which branch above, each division being terminated by a large head of purplish flowers ; the akenes (popularly seeds) are about an inch long, marked with furrows, and terminated by a slender beak about their own length, bearing at the top a pappus of plumose hairs. The cultivation of salsify is precisely that of carrots and similar roots, but being smaller it is thinned to stand 4 or 5 in. apart ; it requires a deep, rich soil, which should have been manured the year before. It is per- fectly hardy, and, like parsnips, only the por- tion required for use during the winter need be dug in the autumn. To obtain seeds, the finest roots are set out in spring and treated like those of similar plants. Oyster plant is OZAKA cooked in various ways : it is made into soup in imitation of oyster soup, which it resembles in flavor ; it is cut into inch pieces and stewed and served with white sauce ; or it is boiled and then dipped into butter and fried whole, or mashed and made into balls, which are treated in the same manner. The root abounds Oyster Plant (Tragopogon porrifolius). 1. Flower. 2. Boot. in a milky juice, which becomes dark-colored on exposure to the air; in preparing it for cooking, each root as it is scraped is thrown into water to prevent discoloration. Black oys- ter plant or black salsify is scorzonera Hispani- ca, a closely related plant, which has broader leaves and yellow flowers ; the root, shaped like that of the preceding, is covered with a blackish skin, but internally is quite as white. It is cultivated in the same manner as the other, and is put to the same uses ; its flavor is preferred by many. Spanish oyster plant is scolymus Hispanicus, close- ly related to the thistles. It has large prickly leaves, a foot or more long, with white blotches ; its flowers, which are in thistle-like heads, are orange yellow. The roots are very white, 12 or 15 in. long, an inch or more in diameter at the crown, very brittle, and ,, they are used the same as the preceding, but usually have a hard centre, which must be removed after the root is boiled. OZAKA, a city of Japan, in the S. W. part of the main island, on and near the mouth of the Yodogawa, 25 m. S. W. of Kioto ; pop. in 1872, 530,885. It is one of the three fu or imperial cities, and is in a vast and highly productive