310 LI. OLEINE.E. [Olea. 



area as a shrub ; but it is uncertain whether it is originally indigenous in the 

 North- West Himalaya. Apparently wild in Eastern Bengal and on the Island 

 of Nipon (Japan), Miquel 1. c. Cultivated in Japan, China, and most tropical 

 countries. In May, June, sometimes in Sept., the tree is covered with an 

 abundance of white or light-yellow flowers with an exquisite fragrance, which 

 the least breath of wind carries a distance of several hundred yards. Growth 

 slow, 13 rings per in. radius. In Japan often a large tree (fl. in Oct.), in Kamaon a 

 small tree or shrub ; bark ^ in. thick, dark or light-grey, irregularly longitudi- 

 nally rugose, and scabrous with elevated tubercles. Wood whitish, mottled 

 with brown. In Kamaon the flowers are placed among clothes to keep off in- 

 sects, in China they are used to flavour tea. 



5. LIGUSTRUM, Linn. 



Shrubs or small trees, with opposite, entire leaves. Flowers bisexual, 

 in terminal trichotomous panicles. Calyx small, 4-toothed. Corolla with 

 a short tube and 4 lobes, valvate or slightly imbricate in the bud. Ovary 

 2-celled, 2 ovules in each cell ; style short. Fruit a berry. Seeds 4 or 

 fewer ; albumen copious, fleshy or almost cartilaginous ; cotyledons foli- 

 aceous, radicle superior. 



1. L. robustum, H.f. & Th. Syn. Phillyrea robusta, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. 

 i. 101. Olea robusta, Wall. ; Wight Ic. t. 1242. Visiania robusta, DC. 

 Prodr. viii. 289. Vern. Keri, banpatara, N.W.P. 



A moderate-sized tree, nearly glabrous. Branchlets dotted with small 

 elevated white specks. Leaves ovate or ovate - lanceolate, coriaceous, 

 glabrous on both sides, shining above. Flowers white, subsessile ; bracts 

 linear, deciduous. Eamifications of panicle pubescent, with long soft 

 hairs. Calyx cup - shaped, truncate or 4 - dentate. Corolla - tube short ; 

 lobes oblong, valvate in bud. Anthers on short filaments. Berry cylin- 

 drical, often curved, J-J in. long. 



Mountains on the west side of the peninsula. Bengal, Nepal, and Kamaon, 

 2500-8000 ft. Fl. April-June ; fr. Nov.-Feb. In mixed forests, scattered, a 

 handsome, middle-sized tree, 40 ft. high, trunk erect, 4-5 ft. girth, branches ascend- 

 ing, forming an oval crown. Bark cinereous, scabrous with numerous warts. 

 Wood light-brown, often with white dots, fairly close and durable, said to be 

 somewhat brittle. In South India the bark is put into the toddy of Caryota 

 urens, to cause immediate fermentation. Closely allied are the following trees : 



1. L. compactum, H.f. & Th. (Olea compacta, Wall.) Branchlets without ele- 

 vated specks ; panicles compact, perfectly glabrous ; berries ovoid or subglobose, 

 J in. long. North- West Himalaya, Sarda to the Bias, at 3500-6000 ft. (Karama 

 peak, Deoban range, D.B., June 1863). Fl. May-July. 



2. L. nepalense, Wall, in Roxb. Fl. Ind., ed. Carey, i. 151 ; PI. As. rar. t. 270. 

 Syn. L. spicatum, Don Prodr. Fl. Nep. 107. The Nepal Privet. Vern. Gum- 

 gacha, Nepal. Branchlets dotted with callous spots. Flowers white, subsessile, 

 in compact villous panicles ; bracts minute, deciduous. Calyx truncate or in- 

 distinctly 4-toothed. Berries ovoid, dark blue, with a beautiful bloom on them. 

 Nepal. Fl. April-June. 



3. L. bracteolatum, Don 1. c. 107, differs by linear-lanceolate bracts and more 

 spreading panicles. Berries (always ?) subglobose. Garhwal, Kamaon, 2500- 

 7000 ft. Nepal. 



These species of Ligustrum require farther study. 



