238 OLEIXEJ-. [Licu8Ti:t'M. 



1. LIGUSTRUM, Tournef. PRIVET. 

 Shmbs, rarely small trees. Leaves often evergreen, quite entire. Flowers 



in terminal thyrsoid cymes. Calyx shortly tubular, 4-toothed, deciduous. 



Corolla funnel-shaped, 4-lobed. Stamens 2, included in the corolla-tube. 



Ovary ovoid ; style very short, stigma 2-fid lobes obtuse ; ovules 2 in each 



cell. Berry globose, 2-celled, cells 1-2-seeded, flesh oily. Seeds ovoid or 



angled, albumen hard, cotyledons ovate-lanceolate. DISTRIB. Europe, N. 



Asia, especially Japan ; species about 10. ETYM. ligare, to bind, from a 



use of the twigs. 



1. li. vulga're, L. ; shrubby, leaves oblong-lanceolate quite entire. 



Thickets in England, from York and Durham southwards ; naturalized in Scot- 

 land ; apparently wild in S. of Ireland, fl. June-July. A glabrous bush, 

 4-10 ft., almost evergreen ; branches slender, bark smooth. Leaves 1-2 in., 

 shortly petioled, acute. Panicles 1-3 in. Corolla - in. Berry ^ in. diam., 

 globose, purple-black. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa. Berries yield a rose- 

 dye and a bland oil used for cooking in Germany. 



a. FRAXINUS, Tournef. ASH. 



Deciduous trees. Leaves simple or pinnate, leaflets opposite with an 

 odd one, toothed or serrate. Flowers polygamous or dioecious. Calyx 4-fid 

 or 0. Petals 0, or 4 connate at the base. Stamens 2, hypogynous. Ovary 

 oblong ; stigma subsessile 2-fid ; ovules 2-3 in each cell. Fruit a com- 

 pressed 1 -2-celled samara, winged at the tip, cells 1-seeded. Seed com- 

 pressed, albumen fleshy ; embryo straight, cotyledons broad. DISTRIB. 

 Europe, N. Asia, N. America ; species about 30. ETYM. Doubtful. 



1. F. excel sior, L. ; leaflets oblong-lanceolate serrate, perianth 0. 

 Woods and hedges, but generally planted, ascending to 1,350 ft. in Yorkshire ; 

 fl. April-May. Tree 50-80 ft. ; bark smooth ; branchlets stout ; buds large, 

 black. Leaflets 1-3 in., 4-7-pair. Floirers small, polygamous, in dense 

 small axillary panicles. Stamens purple-black. Samaras 1 in., in large 

 drooping panicles, pedicelled, linear-oblong, notched at the tip ; nucleus 

 oblong, ribbed. Seed A in. DISTRIB. Europe (excl. Greece), N. Africa. 

 - -Wood excellent. A 1-toliolate state occurs, F. litieropltylla, Vahl. 



ORDER XLVI. APOCY'NE.ffi. 



Trees or shrubs, rarely herbs, often climbing ; juice milky. / 

 opposite, rarely whorled, quite entire ; stipules or rudimentary. Flowers 

 regular, axillary or terminal, solitary or cymose. Calyx 4-5-fid. Corolla 

 hypogynous, funnel- or salver-shaped ; throat naked or with scales ; lobes 

 usually oblique, contorted in bud. Stamens 4-5, on the tube or throat of 

 the corolla, filaments very short often dilated above ; anthers basitixi-d, 

 dehiscence introrse, usually elongate, free or connate and adhering to the, 

 stigma ; cells sometimes obliterated below ; pollen granular. Disk or 

 annular. Ovary of 2 free or connate carpels ; style short, dilated, stigma 

 entire or 2-fid often constricted in the middle ; ovules many, anatropous 

 or amphitropous, placentas marginal. Fruit usually of 2 many-seeded 



