124 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



former are grown for food or medicine ; and the 

 latter, which stands about a foot and a half high, 

 and bears large heads of white flowers stained with 

 pink, is occasionally grown in Britain as food for 

 pheasants ; but much more extensively on the 

 Continent, where it is used for cakes. 



Order LXXVII. Elceagnacece (i genus) 



This is a small Order including much-branched 

 shrubs or trees, with long entire alternate leaves, 

 and small flowers, the perianth with 2 or 4 

 stamens, inserted in the tube of the male flower, 

 and a single style and stigma in the female flower. 

 The latter is succeeded by a stone fruit, surrounded 

 by the enlarged and succulent perianth. The 

 plants are thorny, and more or less covered with 

 silvery scales. 



The Sea-Buckthorn (Hippopha'e rhamnoides) is a 

 thorny shrub with willow-like leaves and orange- 

 coloured flowers growing near the sea in the south 

 of England. It grows to the height of 5 or 6 feet. 

 The perianth of the male flower is deeply bifid; 



that of the female flower is tubular and bifid. 

 The leaves are smooth above, and clothed beneath 

 with silvery-white scales. The berries are rust- 

 coloured. 



Oleaster — Eltzagnus angustifolia 



(Plate LXXXIV) 



The Sea-Buckthorn is the only British species 

 of this Order ; but we have figured the Oleaster 

 or Wild Olive, a small tree about twenty feet high, 

 which is a native of south-eastern Europe, and 

 being largely cultivated or grown for ornament in 

 other parts of the Continent, has naturalised itself 

 here and there. The young shoots and leaves are 

 clothed with silvery-white scales, and feel velvety 

 to the touch. The leaves are long, pointed, and 

 entire, and the branches are covered with long 

 and short thorns. The small flowers are silvery 

 on the outside and yellow on the inside, and stand 

 on short stalks, singly or together, in the axils of 

 the leaves. They have an agreeable odour, which 

 is perceptible at some distance. The fruit resem- 



