Genus OLEA, Linn. 
OleaceaD. Diandria Monogynia. 
Syst. Nat. Syst. Lin. 
Derivation. The word Oka is derived from the Greek elaia, the oMve-tree ; and, in its turn, as De Theis conjectures, from 
the Celtic oletv, oil. 
Generic Characters. Corolla quadrifid, with the segments nearly ovate. Drupe a monospermous plum 
^HE genus Olea embraces more than twenty species, either indi- 
genous or cultivated in the temperate parts of Europe, Asia, 
Africa, and America. Besides the Olea europsea and americana, 
hereafter described, may be noted, as worthy of cultivation, the 
Olea excelsa, a native of Madeira, and sufficiently hardy to with- 
stand the climate of Britain and the temperate parts of the United 
States; the Olea emarginata, indigenous to Madagascar; the Olea capensis, a 
native of the Cape of Good Hope; and the Olea fragrans, of China and Japan, 
where it is much cultivated for the sake of its sweet-scented flowers ; which, it is 
said, are used for giving flavour to schulang tea. The scent of this plant, Messrs. 
Loddiges observe, " is astonishing ; and so diffusive, that we distinctly noticed it, 
when in bloom, on the back wall of our green-house, at considerable more than 
one hundred yards' distance." 
