OLEACER, SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 59 
CHIONANTHUS. 
FLowers perfect or polygamous; calyx 4-lobed, the divisions imbricated in estiva- 
tion ; corolla deeply 4-lobed or divided, the divisions conduplicate-valvate in estivation ; 
stamens 2, rarely 4, inserted on the tube of the corolla, extrorse; disk 0; ovary supe- 
rior, 2-celled ; ovules 2 in each cell, suspended. Fruit a fleshy usually 1-seeded drupe. 
Leaves opposite, simple, destitute of stipules, deciduous. 
Chionanthus, Linneus, Gen. 335 (1737). — Adanson, Fam. Gen. ii. 677. — Baillon, Hist. Pl. xi. 247. — Engler & 
Pl. ii. 224. — A. L. de Jussieu, Gen. 105. — Endlicher, Prantl, Pflanzenfam. iv. pt. ii. 11. 
Gen. 571. — Meisner, Gen. 256. — Bentham & Hooker, 
Trees or shrubs, with watery colorless juices, stout terete or slightly angled branches with thick 
pith, buds with numerous opposite scales, those of the inner ranks accrescent, and fibrous roots. 
Leaves opposite, simple, conduplicate in vernation, deciduous. Flowers on elongated ebracteolate 
pedicels in three-flowered clusters terminal on the slender opposite branches of ample loose panicles 
from separate buds produced in the axils of upper leaves of the previous year. Bracts foliaceous, 
persistent. Calyx minute, deeply four-parted, persistent under the fruit. Corolla white, deeply divided 
into four or rarely into five or six elongated linear or ovate lobes united at the base into a short tube, 
or rarely separable. Stamens two, inserted on the base of the corolla opposite the axis of the flower, 
or rarely four, included ; filaments terete, short; anthers ovate, attached on the back below the middle, 
apiculate by the elongation of the connective, two-celled, the cells opening by longitudinal, lateral, or 
subextrorse slits. Ovary two-celled, abruptly contracted into a short columnar style ; stigma thick and 
fleshy, emarginate or slightly two-lobed; ovules two in each cell, laterally attached near its apex, 
pendulous, anatropous; raphe ventral; micropyle superior. Fruit drupaceous, ovoid or oblong, usually 
one or occasionally two or three-seeded ;* exocarp thin, dry, and fleshy; putamen thick, crustaceous. 
Seed filling the cavity of the stone, ovoid, suspended; testa thin, chestnut-brown. Embryo straight, 
axile in thick fleshy albumen; cotyledons flat, longer than the short terete superior radicle turned 
toward the hilum. 
Two species of Chionanthus are known. The type of the genus, Chionanthus Virginica, a small 
tree or shrub, inhabits the middle and southern United States, and Chionanthus retusa,’ northern and 
central China. 
The bark of Chionanthus Virginica is tonic, and is sometimes used in medicine. The genus is 
not known to possess other economic properties. The two species are cultivated for the beauty of their 
abundant white flowers, and the American species is a common garden plant. 
In the United States Chionanthus is not known to be seriously injured by insects or affected by 
dangerous fungal diseases. 
The specific name, from yi and doc, alludes to the ight and graceful clusters of snow-white 
flowers. 
1 Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. v. 332. Chionanthus Chinensis, Maximowicz, Bull. Acad. Sci. St. Péters- 
2 Lindley & Paxton, Fl. Gard. iii. 85, f. 273 (1853). — Walpers, bourg, xx. 430 (Mél. Biol. ix. 393) (1874).— Franchet & Savatier, 
Ann. vy. 482. — Gard. Chron. n. ser. xxiii. 820, f. 178. — Garten- Enum. Pl. Jap. i. 312. 
flora, 1886, 667, f. 84. — Koehne, Deutsche Dendr. 503. 
