OLIVE FA.MILY. 279 



8. PERIPLOCA. (Name, a Greek word, implies that the plant twines.) 

 P. GrSBCa, of S. Eu., cult, as an ornamental twiner, hardy through the 



Middle States : smooth, with opposite ovate mostly pointed leaves, on short 

 petioles, and lateral cymes of rather small flowers, the corolla greenish-yellow 

 with the upper face of the oblong lobes brownish-purple : in summer. 



9. STAPELIA. ("Named for a Dutch naturalist, Dr. Van Stapd.} Strange- 

 looking fleshy plants of the Cape of Good Hope, cult, in conservatories along 

 with Cactuses. The commonest is 



S. hirsilta. Stems or branches G'-10 ; high, with concave sides, pale and 

 obscurely downy ; flower 3' -4' in diameter, dull purple and yellowish with 

 darker transverse stripes, beset with purple very long hairs, and with denser 

 hairiness towards the centre, exhaling a most disgusting odor, not unlike that 

 of putrid meat. 



89. OLEACE^l, OLIVE FAMILY. 



Trees or shrubs, chiefly smooth, without milky juice, dL-tinguished 

 among monopetalous plants with free ovary by the regular flowers 

 having stamens almost always 2, and always fewer than the 4 (some- 

 times 5 or more) divisions of the corolla, the ovary 2-celled and 

 (except in Jasminum and Forsythia) with one pair of ovules in 

 each cell : style if any only one, rarely 2-cleft. A few are nearly 

 or quite polypetalous ; others apetalous. 



1. Calyx and corolla with 5 - 8 lobes A single erect ovule and seed in each cell. 



1- JASMINUM. Corolla salver-shaped, the lobes convolute in the bud. Stamens 

 2, included in the tube. Ovary uad the berry -like fruit 2-lobed, 2-seeded. 



\ 2. Calyx and corolla with the parts in fours, or sometimes (in Fraxinus) one or 

 both wanting. Ovules hanging, usually a pair in each cell, many in No. 2. 

 Leaves opposite, except accidentally. 



* Leaves simple : flowers perfect and complete. 

 +- Ovules and seeds numerous or several in each cell of the ovary and pod. 



2. FORSYTHIA. Corolla golden yellow, bell-shaped, 4-lobecl, the lobes con- 



volute in the bud. The 2 stamens and style short. Pod ovate. Leaves 

 deciduous. 



t- <- Ovules a pair in each cell, but the seeds of ten fewer. 



3. SYRINGA. Corolla salver-form, the lobes valvate in the bud, the tube much 



longer than the 4-toothed calyx. Fruit a pod, 4-seeded, flattened contrary 

 to the narrow partition, 2-valved, the valves almost conduplicate. Seed* 

 slightly wing-margined. Leaves deciduous. 



4. L1GUSTRUM. Corolla short funnel-form, with spreading ovate obtuse lobes, 



valvate in the bud, white. Fruit a 1- 4-seeded black berry. Leaves firm 

 and thickish, but deciduous. 



6. OLEA. Corolla short, bell-shaped, or deeply cleft into 4 spreading lobes, white. 

 Fruit a drupe, the hard stone often becoming 1-celled and 1-seeded. Leaves 

 evergreen. 



6. CHIONANTHUS. Corolla white, 4-parted, or of 4 very long and narrow linear 



petals slightly or scarcely united at their base; to which the 2 (rarely 3 or 

 even 4 in cultivation) very short stamens barely adhere. Fruit a fleshy and 

 globular drupe, the stone becoming 1-celled and commonly 1-seeded. Leaves 

 deciduous. 

 * * Leaves pinnate : flowers polygamous or dioecious, in most species apeialous. 



7. FRAXTNUS. Calyx small, sometimes obsolete or wholly wanting- Petals 4, 



2, or none. Anthers large. Fruit a simple samara or key (Lessons, p. 131, 

 fig. 300), usually becoming 1-celled and 1-seeded. Leaves deciduous. 



