190 Olive (Oleacece) 



24. Family OLEACE^. (Olive Fam.) 

 Genus CHIONANTHUS, L. (Fringe-Tree.) 



From two Greek words meaning " snow" and " flowers." 



Fig. 88. Fringe-Tree. Old Man's Beard. C. Virgtnica, L. 



Flowers, snow-white, in long, loose, drooping clusters. 

 Petals, four, nearly an inch in length, very narrow, 

 barely united at the base. Calyx, four-parted, very 

 small, persistent. Stamens, two, very short. Style, 

 one, notched. Seed-case, free from the calyx, two- 

 celled, with four young seeds (only a part ripening). 

 April, June. 



Leaves, simple, opposite, three to six inches long, edges 

 entire, smooth ; outline oval to reverse egg- 

 shape, very variable. Apex, pointed or sometimes 

 rounded. 



Fruit, one half to two thirds of an inch long, oval, pur- 

 plish, one-celled, one- to three-seeded ; a drupe. 



Found, along streams from New Jersey and Southern 

 Pennsylvania, southward. 



A shrub six to ten feet high, or often a low tree ; 

 common in cultivation and very ornamental. The leaves 

 are supposed to be useful as a tonic in fevers. 



