NETTLE FAMILY » 425 



between the two British species have occurred in North Somer- 

 set. — Fl. January — April. Perennial. 



Ord. LXVI. EL^AGNACEiE.— Oleaster Family 



A very small order of shrubs and trees, native to the Northern 

 Hemisphere, covered with scurfy scales ; leaves undivided, 

 exstipulate ; flowers dioecious, small, polysymmetric, axillary ; 

 staminate flowers in catkins, with a 2 — 4-lobed tubular perianth, 

 and 3 — 8 stamens sessile in the tube ; carpellate flower solitary, 

 with a tubular, 2 — 6-cleft perianth, and superior, i -chambered, i- 

 ovuled ovary ; style short ; stigma lateral ; fruit an indehiscent 

 nut, enclosed within the fleshy persistent perianth. The fruit of 

 several species of Elcedgnns is eaten in the East, and the flowers 

 are highly fragrant, and abound in honey, which in some parts of 

 Europe is considered a remedy for malignant fevers. The only 

 British species is the Sea Buckthorn {Hippophae Rhamnoides). 



I. Hippophae (Sea Buckthorn). — A genus containing only the 

 one species H. Rhamnoides, the Sea Buckthorn, or Sallow 

 Thorn, is a shrub, 4 — 8 feet high, with branches ending in spines ; 

 leaves scattered, obovate, silvery ; flowers small, greenish, appearing 

 with the leaves ; sta^nens 4 ; berries orange-yellow, very juicy, 

 acid. — Sandy shores on the east coast ; rare. — Fl. May. Perennial. 



Ord. LXVU. Urticace^. — Nettle Family 



A large and difficult Order the limits of which are variously 

 assigned by different botanists. In its widest sense it comprises 

 over 1,500 species, natives of all climates, of all sizes, and of very 

 various properties. They have leaves either opposite or scattered, 

 but usually stipulate, serrate, and rough ; flowers usually imperfect, 

 small and green ; perianth 3 — 8-cleft and persistent, or wanting ; 

 stamens equal in number to the lobes of the perianth, and 

 opposite to them ; ovary superior, i- rarely 2-chambered, i- rarely 

 2-ovuled ; styles i — 2 ; fruit dry, indehiscent, i-seeded. One 

 large section of the Order, not represented among British 

 plants, has a milky juice often rich in rubber, and includes a 

 number of edible fruits, or rather structures enclosing the fruits. 

 The Cow-tree, Palo de vaca, Arbol de leche, of South America 

 (Brosimum Galactodendron), contains an abundance of attractive 

 milk, closely resembling that of the cow. B. Aubletii, a large 

 tree, also South American, yields the spotted heart-wood known 

 as Snake-wood, Letter-wood, or Leopard-wood. Ficus eldstica 

 and other species yield the india-rubber of India. The Fig 



