Genus ORNUS, Vers. 



Oleaceae. 



Diandria Monopynia. 



ttytl. /.in. 



Synont/mes. 



Of Authors. 



Omus, Fraxinus, 



Frene a fleurs, Frene i la manne, Omier, ) p . 



Orne, ) 



Bliihende Esche, Germany. 



Orno, Italy. 



Flowering Ash, Manna Ash, Britain and Anglo-America. 



Dtritalions. The word Orntia is derived from the Greek oroa.a mountain, having reference to some of the trees of this 

 genus as growing on hills and mountains. The species were clasijitied under the head of Fraxinus uf the old authors. 



Generic Characters. Flowers hermaphrodite, or of distinct sexes. Calyx 4-parted or 4-toothed. Corolla 

 4-parted ; segments long, ligulate. Stamens with long filaments. Stigma emarginate. Samara 1- 

 celled, 1-seeded, winged. Don, Miller's Diet. 



HIS genus embraces trees natives of Europe, Asia, and of North 

 America; willi impari-pinnate leaves, and terminal or axillary 

 ptinicles of flowers, distinguished from those of tiie common ash, 

 by having corollas. They may all be propagated from seeds, by 

 grafting or budding, or by cuttings and layers. 



Several, if not all the species of both the genera Fraxinus and 

 Omus, extravasate sap, which, when it becomes concrete, is mild and mucilag- 

 inous. This sap is produced more abundantly by the Omus europaea, and some 

 of its varieties, than by any other species ; and, when collected, it forms the 

 manna of commerce. This substance is chiefly collected in Calabria and Sicily, 

 where, according to the " Materia Medica" ot Geoffroy, the manna runs of itself 

 from the trunks of some trees, while it does not flow from others unless wounds 

 are made in the bark. Those trees which yield the manna spontaneously grow 

 in the most favourable situations; and the sap runs from them of its own accord 

 only during the greatest heats of summer. It begins to ooze out about mid-day, 

 in the form of a clear liquid, which soon thickens, and continues to run until 

 the cool of the evening, when it begins to harden into granules, that are scraped 

 off the following morning. When the night has been damp or rainy, the manna 

 does not harden, but runs to the ground, and is lost. This kind is called mcmna 

 in tears (manna lagrima, of the Sicilians) ; and it is as pure and white as the 

 finest sugar. About the end of July, when the liquid ceases to flow of itself, 

 incisions are made through the bark and soft wood ; and into these incisions 

 slender pieces of straw or twig are inserted, on which the manna runs, and, in 

 hardening, entirely coats them over. This is the common manna of the shops, 

 which is thus collected in the form of tubes; and is called by the Sicilians, 

 manna in cannoU, or manna cannoli. Another sort, which is inferior to the 

 two preceding, is procured by making an oblong incision in the trees, in July or 

 August, and taking off a piece of the bark about three inches in length, and two 

 inches in breadth. This kind, which is called manna grassa, is the coarsest of 

 all ; but, as it is obtained with the least trouble, and in great abundance, it is 

 also the cheapest. Sometimes, instead of cutting out a piece of bark, and leaving 

 the wound open, two horizontal gashes are made, one a little above the other ; 

 in the upper of which is inserted the stalk of a maple leaf, the point of the leaf 

 being fixed in the lower gash, so as to form a sort of a cup to receive the manna 



