COEOLLIFLOE.il. 303 



Qualities and Uses. The principal property which has been noted in 

 these plants is astringency ; but they are better known and far more 

 important on account of their hard and dark-coloured wood, the heart- 

 wood of many species of Diospyros constituting Ebony : D. Ebenus yields 

 it in Mauritius : D. Melanoxylon on the Coromandel coast ; D. Ebenaster 

 is the bastard Ebony of Ceylon ; and D. hirsuta has a variegated wood 

 called Calamander. Other species are also used. D. virginiana, a North- 

 American species, bears the fruit called Persimmon or Date-plum, which, 

 is astringent when ripe, but is eaten after it has been affected by frost. 

 Diospyros Lotos (Europe) and D. Kaki (China) have also edible fruit. 



AQUIFOLIACKE on ILICACE^E (THE HOLLY OBDER) comprise 

 trees or shrubs, with small axillary 4-6-merous flowers, sometimes dicli- 

 nous by abortion ; a minute corolla free from the 4-6-celled ovary and 

 the 4-6-seeded berry ; the stamens as many as the divisions of the almost 

 or quite divided 4-6-petalous imbricate corolla, alternate with them, 

 attached to the very base ; ovary 2-6-celled ; cells with 1 ovule ; stigma 

 almost sessile, lobed ; fruit succulent, with 2-6 stones ; seeds suspended, 

 with copious fleshy perisperm ; radicle superior. Illustrative Genera : Ilex, 

 L. ; PrinoSj L. 



Affinities, &c. The affinities of Aquifoliaceas to Ebenaceae and Sapotaceae 

 have been noticed under those Orders. Some authors consider them re- 

 lated to Rhamnaceae or Celastraceae; but their sympetalous corolla, 

 want of disk, straight embryo, and their relations to Ebenaceae, as well 

 as the difference in the ovary and seeds, remove them from the immediate 

 neighbourhood of those Orders. On the other hand, they exhibit some 

 approach to Loganiaceae and Apocynaceae. 



Distribution. A small Order, widely scattered, but sparingly. Ilex 

 Aquifoliumj the Holly, is the only European species. 



Qualities and Uses. The bark is ordinarily astringent and tonic, and 

 that of the Common Holly is esteemed a febrifuge ; its berries produce 

 emetic and purgative action ; its leaves and still more those of Ilex para- 

 yuayensis, called Mate or Paraguay Tea, resemble Tea in property, as is the 

 case also with Prinos glabra, a North-American shrub. Other species of 

 Ilex are also used for this purpose in South America. The viscid substance 

 called Bird-lime is made from the bark of the Holly ; and its close white 

 wood is valued by cabinet-makers. 



STYRACACEJE are remarkable among the Orders here placed near 

 it for the inconstancy of the character dependent on the adhesion of the 

 calyx ; Miers divides it into two, Symplocaceae and Styracaceae, separated 

 by this mark, by the aestivation of the corolla, and other points. It is com- 

 monly regarded as related to Ebenaceae among the Corollifl orals, and also 

 to Aurantiaceae and Ternstroemiaceae among the Thalamiflorals ; while 

 Lindley connects it with Celastraceae through Sapotaceae : others point 

 out a resemblance to Philadelphaceae. 



Distribution. Scattered sparingly in the warm regions of Asia and 

 America. 



Qualities and Uses. Bitter and aromatic, sometimes containing a pun- 

 gent resin. Gum Benzoin is obtained from Styrax Benzoin in the Malay 



