OLEIXJE. XV. ORXUS. COLUMELLIE.E. 



57 



kind is more esteemed and always preferred to the other, because 

 it is free and clear from impurities. There is still a third kind in 

 Calabria, which is as white as the finest sugar, but is seldom met 

 with. The two first kinds of manna undergo no preparation what- 

 ever before they are exported. When the summer is rainy the 

 manna is always scarce and bad. Manna likewise exudes spon- 

 taneously, and concretes into granules; this kind is known in the 

 markets by the name of manna in tear. Manna is sweet, but 

 leaves a nauseous impression on the tongue. It is a mild ca- 

 thartic, for which purpose it was formerly much used in practice ; 

 it is now seldom given alone to adults, but combined with senna, 

 neutral salts, and other purgatives, are frequently used to cover 

 its taste. 



far. ft, latifblia (Ait. hort. kew. 3. p. 445.) leaflets oval- 

 oblong, serrated, stalked. 



European Flowering Ash or Manna Ash. Fl. May, June. 

 Clt. 1730. Tr. 20 to 30 feet. 



2 O. ROTUNDIFOLIA (Pers. encb. 2. p. 605.) leaves with 3-5 

 pairs of roundish-ovate, bluntly serrated, almost sessile leaflets, 

 which are narrow at the base ; petioles channelled ; flowers 

 with petals, polygamous ; peduncles axillary. Jj . H. Native 

 of Calabria and the Levant, &c. Fraxinus rotundifolia, Ait. 

 hort. kew. 3. p. 445. Vahl, enum. 1. p. 49. Willd. spec. 4. 

 p. 1105. wild baum. p. 145. t. 2. f. 1. F. mannifera. 

 Hort. Pluk. aim. 182. f. 4. Bauh. hist. 1. p. 17?. f. 2. 

 Branches and buds brown. Leaflets rather small, glabrous. 

 Flowers purplish. The flowers come out in the spring before 

 the leaves, like the other species of the genus, as well as of 

 Fraxinus. The lower parts of the mountains of Calabria abound 

 with this, the manr.a-asb, which grows spontaneously and with- 

 out any culture, except that the woodmen cut down all the 

 strong stems that grow above the thickness of a man's leg. 

 Towards the end of July the gatherers of manna make a hori- 

 zontal gash, inclining upwards, in the bole of the tree. As the 

 liquor never oozes out the first day, another cut is given on the 

 second, and then the woodmen fix the stalk of a maple leaf 

 in the upper wound, and the end of the leaf in the lower one, 

 so as to form a cup to receive the gum as it distils from each 

 gash. The season continues about a month. The men have 

 only S carlines (1*. l^d.) for every rotolo ; which quantity, con- 

 taining 33y ounces, is sold for 24f carlini, or somewhat more 

 than 10s. ; if it be in tubular pieces the price rises one third. 

 The tubular pieces are called manna in cannoli, and these re- 

 gular tubes are produced by applying to the incision thin straw, 

 or small bits of shrub, upon which the manna runs as it oozes 

 out. The trees succeed best in an eastern exposure, in order 

 to warm the juices in the morning, and to inspissate those which 

 the heat has sweated out in the evening. 



Round-leatcd Flowering Ash or Manna Ash. Fl. April. 

 Clt. 1697. Tree 16 to 20^ feet. 



3 O. AMERICA'XA (Pursh, fl. amer. sept. 1 . p. 9. Nutt. gen. 

 amer. I. p. 6.) leaves with 2-5 pairs of oblong or ovate- 

 acuminated, shining, serrated leaflets, glaucous beneath, the odd 

 one rather cordate ; flowers with petals, disposed in terminal 

 panicles. > . H. Native of North America, in Maryland and 

 Virginia, but rare. F. Americana, Lin. spec. 1510. ? Branches 

 brownish grey. Buds bron. Leaflets 3-5 inches long and 2 

 broad, paler beneath, and having the larger veins rather villous. 

 Samara narrow, obtuse, mucronate. 



American Flowering Ash. Fl. April, May. Clt. 1820. Tree 

 30 to 40 feet. 



4 O. FLORiBt/NDA (G. Don, in Loud. hort. brit. p. 12.) 

 Laves with i'-3 pairs of elliptic-oblong, acuminated, serrated, 

 glabrous, stalked leaflets, and an odd one ; panicles terminal, 

 compound, thyrsoid ; petals linear, clavate (ex Wall.), oval- 

 oblong, obtuse (ex D. Don) ; samara linear, or narrow-spatulate, 



VOL. IV. 



obtuse, entire. T? . H. Native of Nipaul, where it is called 

 Kangu, Tahasee, and Thaup. Fraxinus floribunda, Wall. fl. 

 ind. 1. p. 150. pi. rar. asiat. 3. t. 277. D. Don, prod. fl. nep. 

 p. 106. Bark ash-coloured, dotted. Branchlets compressed. 

 Leaflets varying much in figure, the terminal or odd one the 

 largest. Flowers white. 



Bundle-Jlomered Flowering Ash. Fl. April. Clt. 1822. 

 Tree 30 to 40 feet. 



5 O. XASTHOXYLOiDES ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets 5, small, 

 oblong, tapering to the base and apex, crenated, almost sessile ; 

 flowers lateral, aggregate ; fruit lateral, aggregate ; samaras with 

 emarginate wings. Vj . H. Native of Sirinaghur. Fraxinus 

 xanthoxyloides. Wall. cat. no. 2833. 



Xanthoxylon-like Flowering Ash. Tree. 



6 O. MOORCROFTIA'NA ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets 5, oblong, 

 acuminated at both ends, glabrous, almost sessile, paler be- 

 neath, finely denticulated : odd one the largest ; fruit disposed 

 in simple, aggregate, lateral racemes ; samara with an emarginate 

 wing, furnished with a little point in the centre of the notch. 



T;. H. Native of Luddac, in the East Indies. Fraxinus 

 Moorcroftiana, Wall. cat. no. 2834. 

 Moorcrofl's Flowering Ash. Tree. 



7 O. CROPHY'LLA ; leaves pinnate, on long petioles ; leaflets 

 5-7, on long petiolules, membranous, ovate-oblong, long-acu- 

 minated, serrated ; peduncles panicled, axillary. T? . H. Na- 

 tive of Silhet, on the Pundua mountains. Fraxinus urophyllus, 

 Wall. cat. no. 2835. Flowers much smaller than those of 0. 



Jioribunda. 



Tail-leaced Flowering Ash. Tree. 



8 O. STRIA'TA (Sweet, hort. brit. p. 256.) leaves with 7 pairs 

 of leaflets, villous beneath as well as the petioles ; leaflets ob- 

 long, petiolulate, acute, toothed ; buds green ; branches striated, 

 fj . H. Native of North America. Fraxinus striata, Bosc. ex 

 Spreng. syst. 1. p. 95. 



Striated Flowering Ash. Fl. April, May. Clt. 1818. Tree 

 30 feet. 



Cult. The species of this genus are raised from seeds, like 

 those of Fr&xtnus, and may be increased by budding or grafting 

 on the common ash. 



ORDER CXLVIII. COLUMELLIE V 2E (this order contains 

 plants agreeing with Columellia in important characters). D. 

 Don, in edinb. phil. jo^rn. dec. 1828. 



Calyx 5 or many-parted, permanent, adnate to the ovarium. 

 Corolla inserted in the upper part of the tube of the calyx, 

 rotate or funnel-shaped ; limb spreading, 5-lobed ; lobes equal, 

 entire, convolutely imbricate in aestivation. Stamens 2, inserted 

 in the thickened part of the throat, opposite the angles of the 

 calyx ; filaments short, dilated ; pollen resinous. Ovarium in- 

 ferior, or half inferior, 2-celled, many-ovulate. Style declinate, 

 seated on a flat fleshy disk. Stigma capitate, convex at top. 

 Capsule 2-celled, woody, 2-valved, closely combined with the 

 tube of the calyx, dehiscing at top by a cross-like chink, there- 

 fore the valves are bifid at the apex ; dissepiment contrary to 

 the compression of the peduncle ; cells many-seeded. Albu- 

 men fleshy or wanting. Trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite, 

 petiolate, entire. Flowers terminal, yellow, or white, very like 

 those of the species of Jasminum. Peduncles bibracteate ? 



This order corresponds with Jasmineacece in the structure and 

 aestivation of its corolla, in its bilocular ovarium, and erect 

 ovula, and it agrees both with it and Syringa in the struc- 

 ture and dehiscence of its capsule. A comparison of the 



