696 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUiM BRITANNICUM. 



natives of Europe, Asia, and North America ; propagated by seeds, or cut- 

 tings of the roots, in dry soil. The genera are three, which are thus 

 contradistinguished : 



El/ea'gsvs Tourn. Flowers polygamous. Calyx 4-lobed. Stamens 4. 



//ippo'pHAE L. Flowers dioecious. Calyx of 2 petals. Stamens 4. 



Shephe'kd/.i; Nutt. Flowers dioecious. Calyx 4-cleft. Stamens 8. 



Genus I. 



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i'L^A'GNUS Tourn. The Eljja'gnus, Oleaster, or Wild Olive 

 Tree. Lin. Si/st. Tetrandria Monogjnia. 



Identification. Tourn. Cor., 51. ; X. Dii Ham., 2. p. 87. 



Synony)nes. Chalef, Fr. ; Wilde Oelbaum, Ger. ; Eleagno, Itnl. 



Verivcdion. " The elaiagnos of Theophrastus was a plant with hoary leaves, growing in marshy 

 places in Arcadia, and was probably a species of Silix, although certainly not S. b.abyl6nica, as 

 Sprengel has stated it to be. It was named from its resemblance to the elciia, or olive, from which 

 it differed in not bearing fruit. Dioscorides writes <?teflg>'0, which means the wild olive; and 

 some botanists have adopted tliis reading, which is most likely the true one. The plants to which 

 the name Slteagnus is now applied are also something like the olive. The French call the l8eag- 

 nus, chaief ; a slight alteration according to Golius, of khalef, the Arabic name of the willow ; 

 but more probably of kulaf, tlie Persian name of the l8eagnus itself." {Lindley in Bot. Reg., 

 t. ll-'je.) Oleaster is a Latin word, which is interpreted a wild olive tree; and perhaps it is 

 derived from olea, an olive tree, and instar, likeness. 



Gen. Char., ^c. Flowers some bisexual, some male only ; both kinds on 

 one plant. Bisexual Jiower. C/j/.i' resembling, internally, a corolla, tu- 

 bular below, bell-shaped above, with a slightly spreading lobed deciduous 

 limb. Lobes mostly 4 ; the tubular part includes the ovary and part of the 

 style, and bears at its mouth a conical crown, throuoh which the stvle 

 passes. Style long. Stigma clavate, or coiled. Stamens arising from the 

 bottom of the bell-shaped part, shorter than it, alternate with its lobes ; 

 the filaments adnate to it, except at their tip. Ovary oblong. Friiit an 

 achenium Male Jloiuer. Calyx resembling, internally, a corolla, bell- 

 shaped, with a limb of 4 6 8 lobes. Stamens of the number of the 

 lobes, otherwise as in the bisexual flower. {G, Dun.) 



Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, deciduous; bearing, as does the bark 

 of growing shoots, scales or stars of hairs, i^/oiw/-* axillary, pediceled. FruU, 

 in some, edible. Shrubs or low trees, deciduous ; natives of Europe, Asia, 

 and North America; which grow freely' in any soil tolerably dry, and are 

 readily propagated by seeds, layers, or cuttings. 



!if I.E. horte'nsis Bieb. The Garden Elaeagnus, Oleaster, or Wild 



Olive Tree. 



Identification. Bieb. Fl. Taur. Cauc, p. 113. 



Synonymes. E. angustif61ia /,., IVilld. Up. PI. 1. p. 688. ; E. songarica Fisch. ; .inermis "Mill. Did 

 'No. 2.; E. argenteus Ma'nrh Met/i. p.6.38. ; E. orieutalis Dflisle ; ? E. argentea Ji'ats. Dend. 



Brit. t. l(;i. : Jerusalem Willow ; Olivier de Boheme, Chalef k Feuilles etroites, Fr.; schmal- 



blattriger Oleaster, Gf)-. ; Albero di Paradiso, //a/. 

 Engravings. N. Du Ham., 1. t. 89. ; Bot. Keg., 1. 1156. ; the plate in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. vii. ; 



and our^^'S. 1362. and 13G3. 



Spec. Char., Sj-c. Leaves lanceolate, hoary all over, as are the shoots of the 

 current year, with stars of hairs of a hoary colour. Branches brown and 

 smooth, moreor less spiny. Leaves 2 in. to 3 in. long ; upon the upper surface 

 whitish green, and upon the under one very hoary. Flowers 2 or 3 together, 

 axillary, upon short peduncles, fragrant : bisexual flowers 4-cleft, interior of j 

 a pale yellow ; male ones o- or more cleft, interior of a golden yellow. 

 Both are furnished on the exterior with stars of hairs, like the under 

 surface of the kaves. A large deciduous shrub or low tree. South of 

 Europe, in Bohemia, France, Spain, the Levant, Tartary, and various parts 

 of Asiatic Russia, Height 15 ft. to 20 ft. Litroduced in 1633. Flowers 

 pale yellow, fragrant ; May. Fruit red brown colour, something like a 

 date ; ripe in October. 



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