483 



EL A 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



E L A 



globular, vlllose, sitting on the nectary ; style filiform, longer 

 than the stamina ; stigma sharp. Pericarp : drupe oblong, 

 of a smooth even surface. Seed: nut oblong, grooved, and 

 tubercled; shell subtrivalvular ; kernel subtrigonal. ES- 

 SENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : five-leaved. Corolla: five- 

 petalled, jagged ; antherse two-valved at tho tip. Drupe: 

 with a curled shell. The species are, 



1. Elseocarpus Serratus. Leaves alternate, lanceolate- 

 elliptic, serrate; racemes axillary; branches round, warted, 

 smooth ; learcs petioled, three inches long, bluntly serrate, 

 smooth, nerved, and veined ; racemes axillary ; flowers dis- 

 tant. Linneus observes, that they are simple, loose, solitary, 

 the length of the leaves, which have a double gland at their 

 base. Native of several parts of the East Indies. 



2. Eleeocarpus Dentatus. Leaves alternate oblong, tooth- 

 serrate at top; racemes axillary; flowers one-styled; branches 

 round, dotted, smooth, with pubescent branchlets ; leaves 

 petioled, two inches long, sharp at the base, smooth on both 

 sides, except on the midrib, nerved above, somewhat veined 

 underneath ; petioles villose. Native of the islands of the 

 South Seas. 



3. Eleeocarpus Dicera. Leaves opposite, ovate, doubly 

 serrate ; racemes compound ; flowers four-styled. Branches 

 round, a little compressed at top ; leaves petioled, smooth, 

 veined at top, two inches long ; racemes three inches long, 

 erect. Native of the East Indies. 



4. Elaeocarpus Copalliferus. Leaves quite entire ; panicle 

 terminating. Leaves large, ovate, coriaceous, very entire, 

 with transverse nerves ; flowers in panicles : calix superior ; 

 the divisions linear-oblong, obtuse, tomentose on both sides; 

 petals longer than the calix, ovate, entire ; stamina forty or 

 more ; antheree filiform at the tip ; germen conic, streaked, 

 tomentose ; style angular ; fruit a conic, fleshy, resinous, one- 

 celled pome. The long linear antheree, terminated by cirrhose 

 threads, seem to furnish a better character than the torn 

 petals. It yields the copal resin, of which there are never- 

 theless several sorts. Native of the East Indies. 



5. Elaeocarpus Integerrimus. Leaves lanceolate ; quite 

 entire ; flowers heaped, axillary. A middle-sized tree, with 

 spreading branches; leaves smooth, petioled, alternate; flowers 

 many, golden, sweet-smelling; calix five-leaved, with lax leaf- 

 lets; petals lacerated, longer than the calix; germina ten, 

 roundish, minute, placed round the base of the style; drupe 

 small, black, subovate, subacute, ripening singly, the rest of the 

 germina proving abortive. Native of Cochin-china, where it 

 is also cultivated for the sweetness and beauty of the flowers. 



6. Eleeocarpus Oblongus. Drupe berried, superior, ovate- 

 oblong, or subcylindric, smooth, covered with a soft fleshy 

 bark ; shell stony, oblong, muricate, and curled, with irre- 

 gular tubercles, having three spurious sutures, never open- 

 ing, one-celled, testaceous ; seed oblong, attenuated to both 

 ends, obscurely three-cornered, ferruginous. Native of the 

 East Indies. 



Elaeodendrum ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order 

 Monogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five- 

 leaved ; leaflets roundish, blunt, concave, spreading very 

 much, small, permanent. Corolla: petals five, roundish, 

 blunt, concave, spreading very much, twice as long as the 

 calix. Stamina : filamenta five, subulate, bent back, arising 

 from a gland beneath the germen; antheree roundish, erect. 

 Pistil : germen roundish, conical, placed on a gland ; style 

 conical; stigma obtuse, bifid. Pericarp: drupe ovate. 

 Seed : nut ovate ; shell thick and very hard, two-celled ; 

 kernels oblong, compressed. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Corolla: five-petalled. Drupe ovate, witii a two-celled nut. 

 The species are, 



1. Eleeodendrum Orientale. This is a moderate-sized 

 twiggy shrub or tree, a native of the Oriental regions ; with 

 the leaves ovate-lanceolate, smooth, sometimes slightly waved, 

 and sometimes even a little inclined toasubserrated appearance 

 on the upper parts of the shoots; flowers borne towards the 

 ends of the branches, standing by twos and threes, of a pale 

 green colour, sweet-smelling, supported on short pedicels, 

 each of which springs from a somewhat longer common pedi- 

 cel. The lower shoots, or those nearest the ground, appear 

 to be somewhat procumbent, and have narrower and longer 

 leaves in proportion than the upper ones ; the nerves or mid- 

 ribs of these leaves are also of a reddish colour. 



2. Eleeodendrum Argan. Branches spiny; leaves ovate, 

 obtuse. It is a middle-sized tree, with short thickish spines 

 at the ends of the branches. Leaves solitary, and in bundles, 

 an inch long, petioled, quite entire, coriaceous, others de- 

 crease towards the petiole, so as to be almost spatulate ; 

 flowers in the axils of the leaves and spines, heaped, sessile ; 

 calix inferior; leaflets a little unequal, hirsute, and brown on 

 the outside, with the edges smooth and whitish; petals half 

 ovate, entire, greenish with white edges ; filamenta longer 

 than the corolla, compressed, fastened to the base of the pe- 

 tals ; antheree ovate; drupe dry; nut very hard and smooth, 

 pale brown, divided longitudinally by a white line, and having 

 a single kernel in each cell ; the calix and style abide after 

 the petals are fallen, but are wanting in the fruit; one of the 

 cells in the nut is generally abortive. It is called Argan by 

 the Moors, who express an oil from the fruit, which the Eu- 

 ropeans employ in a variety of manufactures, and the Moors 

 for the table.. Native of the woods of Morocco. 



Elate ; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Triandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Mule Flowers. Calix: spathe 

 two-valved ; spadix branching. Corolla : petals three, round- 

 ish. Stamina: filamenta three, simple; antheree adnate. 

 Female Flowers, in the same spadix with the males. Calix : 

 spathe common with the males. Corolla: petals three, round- 

 ish, permanent. Pistil: germen roundish; style subulate; 

 stigma sharp. Pericarp : drupe ovate, acuminate. Seed : 

 nut ovate, grooved. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. 

 Calix: three-toothed. Corolla: three-petalled; antheree six, 

 sessile. Female. Cafe: one-leafed. Corolla: three-petalled. 



Pistil: one: stigmas three. Drupe: one-seeded. The 



only known species is, 



1. Elate Sylvestris; Prickly-leaved Elate. Fronds pin- 

 nate ; leaflets opposite. This Palm grows to the height of 

 about fourteen feet, the trunk being covered with an ash- 

 coloured crust, closely united with a very hard whitish wood; 

 pinnate leaves break out from the top of the trunk only, in 

 a decussated order, the old o'nes dropping off as the young 

 ones break forth ; the midribs are green, smooth, and shining, 

 flat within, convex without, with long stiff' spines at bottom ; 

 leaflets opposite, on short petioles, numerous, oblong, rounded, 

 acuminate, close, smooth, of a shining preen, closed at the 

 base towards the inside, finely streaked longitudinally; the 

 flowers are concealed in stitf, green, coriaceous spathes, they 

 are small, several on the same peduncle ; petals whitish-green ; 

 stamina whitish, lanuginose ; they have no smell, but a rough 

 taste; the fruit is oblong-round, small, like a wild plum, with 

 a hard woody point at top, covered with the calix at bottom, 

 first green, then red, but when ripe of a reddish brown, or 

 blackish and shining, covered with a thin rind that is easily 

 broken, and having a whitish sweet farinaceous pulp within; 

 the nut or stone is oblong, rufous, marked longitudinally 

 with a deep furrow, and containing a whitish bitter kernel ; 

 the fruits grow on green smooth shining branches, near a yard 

 long, and two fingers broad, flat, stiff, and woody, whence 



