6oo 



OLEACEAE. 



[Vol.. II. 



Family 13. OLEACEAE Lindl. Nat. Syst. 1830. 

 OUVE FAMILY. 



Trees or shrubs (a few genera almost herbaceous) with opposite or rarely al- 

 ternate simple or pinnate exstipulate entire or dentate leaves and regular per- 

 fect polygamous or dioecious, 2-4-parted flowers in terminal or axillary panicles, 

 cymes or fascicles. Calyx inferior, free from the ovary, usually small, some- 

 times none. Corolla gamopetalous, polypetalous, or none. Stamens 2-4, 

 inserted on the corolla; filaments usually short, separate; anthers mostly large, 

 ovate, oblong or linear, 2-celled, the sacs longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary 

 superior, 2-celled; ovules few in each cavity, anatropous or amphitropous; style 

 usually short or none, rarely elongated. Fruit a capsule, samara, berry or 

 drupe. Seeds erect or pendulous; endosperm fleshy, horny or wanting; embryo 

 straight, rather large; cotyledons flat, or plano-convex; radicle usually short. 



About 21 genera and 500 species, of wide distribution in temperate and tropical regions. 

 Fruit a loculicidal capsule; leaves simple; flowers complete. i. Syringa. 



Fruit a samara; leaves pinnate; flowers dioecious. 2. fraxinus. 



Fruit a drupe or berry; leaves simple. 



Flowers dioecious, apetalous, from catkin-like scaly buds. 3. Adelia."^" 



Flowers complete, polypetalous, paniculate; petals linear. 4. Chionantlms. 



Flowers complete, gamopetalous, paniculate. 5. Ligustruni. 



i. SYRINGA L. Sp. PI. 9. 1753. 



Shrubs with opposite entire (rarely pinnatifid) leaves, and complete gamopetalous flow- 

 ers, in dense terminal panicles or thyrses. Calyx campanulate, mostly 4-toothed, persistent. 

 Corolla salverform, the tube cylindric, the limb 4-lobcd, the lobes induplicate-valvate. Sta- 

 mens 2, inserted near the summit of the corolla-tube; filaments short or slender; anthers 

 ovate or oblong. Ovary 2-celled; ovules 2 in each cavity, pendulous; style elongated; stigma 



2-cleft. Capsule narrowly oblong, somewhat com- 

 pressed, coriaceous, loculicidally 2-valved from above, 

 the valves concave. Seeds pendulous, compressed, 

 obliquely winged. [Greek, a pipe, or tube.] 



About 12 species, natives of Asia and eastern Europe. 



i. Syringa vulgaris L,. Lilac. (Fig. 2837.) 



Syringa I'ulgaris L. Sp. PI. 9. 1753. 



A glabrous shrub, 10 -25 high with terete branches. 

 Leaves ovate, entire, deciduous, green on both sides, 

 acuminate at the apex, truncate or subcordate at the 

 base, 2 / -5 / Idng, \'-$' wide; petioles #'-i' long; 

 flowers lilac or white, very numerous, 5 "-7" long, 

 4 // -5 // broad, in large terminal thyrses; calyx about 

 i // long; corolla-tube about i" in diameter; ultimate 

 pedicels short; capsule 8"-i2" long, 2" thick. 



Escaped from gardens to roadsides in New Jersey, south- 

 eastern New York, and Pennsylvania. Native of eastern 

 Europe. Old names. Pipe-tree, Pipe-privets, Blue-pipe, 

 Blue-ash, Roman Willow. Flowers fragrant. April-May. 



2. FRAXINUS L. Sp. PI. 1057. 1753. 



Trees, with opposite and in all our species odd-pinnate leaves, and small dioecious or 

 polygamous (rarely perfect) greenish fasciculate or racemose-fasciculate flowers, appearing 

 before or with the leaves from the axils of those of the previous season. Calyx small, 4-cleft, 

 irregularly toothed, entire or none. Petals none or 2-4, separate, or united in pairs at the 

 base, induplicate-valvate. Stamens 2 (rarely 3 or 4), inserted on the base of the petals or 

 hypogynous; filaments short or elongated; anthers ovate, oblong or linear. Ovules 2 in 

 each cavity of the ovary, pendulous; stigma 2-cleft. Fruit a flat samara, winged at the apex 

 only or all around, usually i-seeded. Seed oblong, pendulous. [The ancient Latin name.] 



About 40 species. Besides the following. 6 others occur in the southern and western states. 

 Lateral leaflets stalked; calyx present in the fertile flowers. 



Body of the samara terete or nearly .so, the wing chiefly terminal. 

 Wing almost entirely terminal; leaves pale beneath. 

 Wing manifestly extending down on the sides of the body. 

 Foliage, twigs and pedicels glabrous or very nearly so. 

 Foliage, young twigs and pedicels velvety-pubescent. 

 Body of the samara flat, the wing extending all around it. 

 Twigs terete; leaflets 5-7; samara elliptic or spatulate. 

 Twigs 4-sided; leaflets 7-11; samara oblong or cuneate. 

 Lateral leaflets sessile; calyx none; samara winged all around. 



1. F. Americana. 



2. F. lanceolata. 



3. F. Pennsylvanica. 



4. F. Caroliniana. 



5. F. quadrangulala. 



6. F. nigra. 



