

PH1LLYREA. 



OLEINE^E. DIAXDRIA MONOGYXIA, 



From Phyllyra, the mother of Chiron: from whom Ovid calls 

 him Phyllyrius. French, filaria; Italian, lillatro. 



THERE are several species of Phillyrea; natives of 

 the south of Europe: they are evergreen shrubs, and 

 are frequently confounded with the alaternus, a shrub 

 belonging to a different family. They may be readily 

 distinguished by the situation of the leaves, which are 

 alternate in that plant, and opposite in the Phillyrea. 



It is chiefly the Broad-leaved, Phillyrea latifolui, 

 which is confused with the alatemus; and as many 

 gardeners call the latter shrub by the name of Phillyrea, 

 for the sake of distinction the former is styled the True 

 Phillyrea. It is a hardy shrub ; Evelyn says as hardy 

 as the holly itself. It will sometimes grow as high a^ 

 twenty feet. 



The name of this shrub seems to have been a fa- 

 vourite with gardeners and botanists. It has been ob- 

 served that some insist on bestowing it upon the alater- 

 nus ; it also extends to a species of the cassine. Cow- 

 ley speaks of the evergreen privet by the same title; 

 and Philyra was formerly the appellation of the lime- 

 tree. 



