OLEACE^. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 307. 



OLEA. 



Calyx short, 4-toothed. Corolla short, hypocrateriform or 

 rotate, with a flat 4-parted limb. Stamens rather projecting ; 

 style very short ; stigma bifid, with emarginate segments. Drupe 

 2-celled ; one of the cells usually abortive. 



1157. 0. europaea Linn. sp. pi. 11. Vahl.enum i. 39. Fl. 

 Grcec. t. 3. «S Y . and C. i. t. 15. — Olea sativa Hffsgg. fl. port. 

 388. R. and S. i. 69. — Common in all the South of Europe, 

 Barbary, and the Levant. (Olive.) 



A small grey evergreen tree, with hoary rigid banches. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, mucronate, short-stalked, green above, 

 hoary on the under side. Racemes short, axillary, erect, very much 

 shorter than the leaves. Corolla white, with broad ovate segments. 

 Fruit the size of a damson, purple, with a nauseous bitter flesh en- 

 closing a sharp-pointed stone. — From the pericarp is obtained by 

 pressure the well-known substance called Olive oil ; the medical pro- 

 perties of which are demulcent, emollient and laxative. It enters 

 extensively into the preparation of plasters, liniments, cerates, oint- 

 ments and enemas. As an external application, accompanied by long- 

 continued friction of the skin, it has been found beneficial in preventing 

 the contagious influence of the plague. The bark is bitter and astrin- 

 gent, and has had a great reputation as a substitute for Cinchona, 

 according to De Candolle. It also yields a kind of gum, or rather a 

 gum-like substance, once in repute as a vulnerary; this has been 

 found by Messrs. Paoli and Pelletier to contain a peculiar substance 

 which those chemists have named Olivile. 



ORNUS. 



Calyx very small, 4-cleft. Corolla divided to the base into 

 linear segments. Pericarp a winged key not dehiscing. 



1158. O. europaea Pers. syn. i. 9. Mert. and Koch, deutsch. 

 fl. i. 357. Dietr. sp. pi. i. 248. S. and C. i. t. 53. — Fraxinus 



Ornus Linn. sp. pi. 1510. Fl. grcec. t. 4. Woodv. t. 36. — 

 South of Europe especially Calabria and Apulia. (Flowering 

 Ash.) 



A small tree 20 or 30 feet high, with a close round head. Leaves 

 unequally pinnated, in 3 or 4 pairs ; leaflets stalked, oblong, acute, 

 serrated, very hairy at the base of the midrib on the under side. Pani- 

 cles dense, terminal, nodding. Petals narrow, white, and drooping. — 

 From the branches there exudes the bitter-sweet substance called 

 Manna in the shops, well known as a useful gentle laxative. 

 547 n N 2 ■ 



