N. ORD.—OLEACEE. 136 
Tribe.—OLEINEZ. 
GENUS.—CHIONANTHUS,* LINN. 
SEX. SYST—DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA, 
CHIONANTHUS. 
FRINGE TREE. 
SYN.—CHIONANTHUS VIRGINICA, LINN. 
COM. NAMES.—FRINGE TREE, SNOW FLOWER, POISON ASH, OLD MAN’S 
BEARD, SNOWDROP TREE; (FR.) CHIONANTHE; (GER.) SCHNEE- 
BAUM, ODER SCHNEEBLUME. 
A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH BARK OF CHIONANTHUS VIRGINICA, LINN. 
Description.—This beautiful southern shrub grows to a height of from 6 to 10 
feet, and may be characterized as follows: Leaves smooth or downy-pubescent, 
oblong- or ovate-lanceolate, and narrowed into a petiole; margin entire. Jnflor- 
escence loose, axillary, leafy-bracted panicles, appearing with the leaves, than which 
they are longer; flowers delicate, more or less arranged in threes, each on a 
drooping pedicel. Cadyx small, 4-cleft, persistent ; /odes linear-lanceolate. Corolla 
wheel-shaped, 4-cleft; odes long, linear, and almost separate. Stamens 2, included, 
inserted just at the base of the corolla; anthers larger than the young pistil, 2- 
celled; f/aments no longer than the anthers. .S¢y/e short; séigma 4-notched. Frutt 
an ovoid, blackish, fleshy drupe, covered by a delicate bloom; seeds 1 to 3. 
Oleaceze.—A small family of trees or shrubs, represented in North America 
by 6 genera, 29 species, and 7 varieties. eaves opposite, simple or pinnate, exti- 
pulate, deciduous. /VYowers perfect, polygamous or dicecious. Calyx 4-toothed, 
sometimes obsolete. Corolla 4-lobed or petaled, sometimes wanting; @stvation 
valvate. Stamens 2 or abnormally more. Ovary 2-celled, with 2 suspended ovules 
in each cell; s¢y/e single or none. Fruita 1-2 seeded samara, berry, or drupe. 
Embryo straight; albumen hard, sometimes wanting. 
The only proven plant in this order, beside those here considered, is the 
White Jessamine (Yasminum officinale, Linn.), the authority for the use of which 
I am unable to determine. Prominent in this order stands the Levantine and 
South European Olive (Olea Europea, Linn.), which yields, beside its valuable — 
fruit and oil, a bark that is highly spoken of by De Candolle as a substitute me: 
* xuiv, chion, snow; Gvéos, mathe flower. 
