OLEACE^l. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 307. 



OLEA. 



Calyx short, 4-toothed. Corolla short, hypocrateriform or 

 rotate, with a flat 4-parted limb. Stamens rather projecting ; 

 style very short ; stigma bifid, with emarginate segments. Drupe 

 2-celled ; one of the cells usually abortive. 



1157. 0. europaea Linn. sp. pi. 11. Vahl.enum i. 39. Fl. 

 GrcEc. t. 3. S. and C. i. t. 15. Olea sativa Hffsgg. ft. port. 

 388. R. and S. i. 69. Common in all the South of Europe, 

 Barbary, and the Levant. (Olive.) 



A small grey evergreen tree, with hoary rigid banches. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, mucronate, short-stalked, green above, 

 hoary on the under side. Racemes short, axillary, erect, very much 

 shorter than the leaves. Corolla white, with broad ovate segments. 

 Fruit the size of a damson, purple, with a nauseous bitter flesh en- 

 closing a sharp-pointed stone. From the pericarp is obtained by 

 pressure the well-known substance called Olive oil ; the medical pro- 

 perties of which are demulcent, emollient and laxative. It enters 

 extensively into the preparation of plasters, liniments, cerates, oint- 

 ments and enemas. As an external application, accompanied by long- 

 continued friction of the skin, it has been found beneficial in preventing 

 the contagious influence of the plague. The bark is bitter and astrin- 

 gent, and has had a great reputation as a substitute for Cinchona, 

 according to De Candolle. It also yields a kind of gum, or rather a 

 gum-like substance, once in repute as a vulnerary; this has been 

 found by Messrs. Paoli and Pelletier to contain a peculiar substance 

 which those chemists have named Olivile. 



ORNUS. 



Calyx very small, 4-cleft. Corolla divided to the base into 

 linear segments. Pericarp a winged key not dehiscing. 



1158. O. europaea Pers. syn. i. 9. Mert. and Koch, deutsch. 

 fl. i. 357. Dietr. sp. pi. i. 248. S. and C. i. t. 53. Fraxinus 



Ornus Linn. sp. pi. 1510. Fl. grcec. t. 4. Woodv. t. 36.- 

 South of Europe especially Calabria and Apulia. (Flowering 

 Ash.) 



A small tree 20 or 30 feet high, with a close round head. Leaves 

 unequally pinnated, in 3 or 4- pairs ; leaflets stalked, oblong, acute, 

 serrated, very hairy at the base of the midrib on the under side. Pani- 

 cles dense, terminal, nodding. Petals narrow, white, and drooping. 

 From the branches there exudes the bitter-sweet substance called 

 Manna in the shops, well known as a useful gentle laxative. 

 547 N N 2 



