GAMOPETAL^ 97 



and are obliquely twisted in bud, including Jasminum, 

 In Fraxinus the leaves are compound, pinnate, and 

 the fruit is dry, oblong, linear ; in Ligustrum the 

 plants are shrubs, with simple leaves, and the fruit 

 is a berry. 



In the Order generally the branches are opposite. 

 The leaves are simple or compound, pinnate, and, 

 though generally opposite, are sometimes alternate, 

 and often entire. There are no stipules. 



The inflorescence is either a terminal raceme or a 



cyme, frequently with bracteoles. The flowers are 



regular, hermaphrodite, or occasionally unisexual, the 



plant being, in the case of the Ash, polygamous or 



dicecious. The flowers are white or green, and the 



parts are 2 — 6 in number. The flower may be poly- 



petalous or apetalous. The calyx is regular, inferior, 



four-lobed, or without any lobes, valvate in bud. 



The corolla is hypogynous, regular, four-lobed^ or 



wanting, deciduous, or there may be four free 



petals. The parts are valvate in bud. The two 



stamens are epipetalous or hypogynous, usually 



transverse, and alternate with the carpels. There is 



no disc. The ovary is two-celled, each chamber 



containing one or two seeds. The stigma is two- 



lobed. The style is simple, or absent. The fruit is 



a berry, drupe, or capsule, or a schizocarp, with 



I — 4 seeds. 



The flowers are wind-pollinated in the Ash, and 

 the fruit in this is also wind-dispersed. In Ligustrum 

 the berry is dispersed by birds. 



VOL. III. 7 



