CHAP. LXXV. f?LEA CE^. PHILLY'REA. 1203 



As the seeds of the privet will keep several years, it is to be hoped that the above species will, at 

 no distant period, be introduced through the exertions of Dr.Wallich and other botanists of the East. 

 Some plants in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges, lately raised from seeds received from Kamaon, 

 in the Himalayas, appear to belong to this genus. 



Genus IT. 



PHILLY'REA Tourn. The Phillyre.a.. Lin. Sj/st. Diandria Monogynia. 



Identification. Dioscor. ; Tourn, Inst., 3G7. ; Lin. Gen., No. 19. ; Vaill. Acad. Scien., p. 197. t. 13 

 f. 35—37. ; Juss. Gen., lOfi. ; Ga?rtn. Fruct., 2. p. 11. t. 92. ; Vent. Mai., 2. p. 313. ; Lam. Ill, 1. t. 8 : 

 Lindl. Nat. Syst Bot., p. 308. ; Don's Mill., i. p. 45. 



Synonymes. Filaria, Fr. ; Steinlinde, Ger. 



Derivation. From phulton, a leaf ; or iioni Philyra, the mother of Chiron, who was changed into a tree. 



Ge7i. Char.y S^c. Calyx small, tubular, 4-toothed, permanent. Corolla short, cam- 

 panulate, rotate, 4-cleft, deciduous. Stamens a little exserted, with short 

 filaments. Style simple. Stigma thickish. Drupe globose, containing a 2- 

 celled nut ; one of the cells usually abortive. Seed solitary in each cell. 

 Albumen rather farinaceous or fleshy. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 45.) — Leaves oppo- 

 site, racemes axillary. Flowers greenish white. Drupes black, globose. 

 Evergreen shrubs, or low trees ; natives of the south of Europe, and of 

 some parts of Western Asia. In British gardens, where they have been in 

 cultivation for nearly three centuries, they are all most desirable evergreen 

 shrubs, on account of their shining dark green leaves, and the fragrance of 

 their numerous white flowers, which are propagated by cuttings or layers ; 

 and will grow in any common garden soil. The different sorts described as 

 species are, probably, only varieties, originated at a time when the phillyrea 

 was the principal evergreen in British nurseries. At the present day, 

 one half of these varieties are only to be found in botanic gai'dens, 

 because there is no demand for them in the nurseries. We think there 

 should be only one specific name, which may be that of P. oppositifolia, 

 under which all the other sorts might be arranged as varieties and sub- 

 varieties. We have not, however, ventured to adopt this name, in con- 

 formity with our principle, of giving no new names whatever ; but we have 

 adopted the names P. angustifolia, P. media, and P. latifolia, as botanical 

 species, believing these forms to be most distinct, and most common in a 

 wild state. By general observers, the phillyrea is frequently confounded 

 with the alaternus ; but the species of that genus have their leaves placed 

 alternately on their branches, whereas in the phillyrea they are opposite. 

 The alaternus has, also, 5 stamens to each flower ; while the phillyrea has 

 only 2. Gerard mentions that the phillyrea grows wild about Ascalon ; 

 that it was brought to England from Narbonne and Montpelier, in France; 

 and that he planted several sorts in the Earl of Essex's garden, at Barn 

 Elms, near London ; adding, " I have them growing in my garden likewise." 

 (See p. 38. and p. 39.) Price of plants, in the London nurseries, 51. per 

 hundred, or Is. 6d. each ; at BoUwyller and New York they are green- 

 house plants. It was formerly, like the alaternus, which, as we have before 

 observed (p. 331.), was often confounded with the phillyrea, in much re- 

 pute for covering naked walls, and clipping into figures of balls, men, 

 animals, &c. The largest phillyrea hedge in England is said to be at 

 Brampton Park, near Huntingdon, the seat of Lady Olivia B. Sparrow. 



* I. P. ANGUSTiFoYiA L. The narrow-leaved Phillyrea. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 1. p. 10. ; Vahl Enum., 1. p. 36. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 45. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. 

 Synonymes. P. obllqua Tenore Syll., p. 9. ; P. mfedia Tenore Fl. Neap., 3. p. 6. 

 Engravings. Lam. HI., 8. 3. ; and our fig. 1025. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves linear-lanceolate, quite entire. Branches beset with 

 elevated dots. Leaves obsoletely veined. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 45.) A 

 shrub, from 8 ft. to 10 ft. high ; a native of Italy and Spain. It was intro- 



4 K 3 



