Styrax.} XLVII. LENTIBULACE^. 297 



family, which is entirely exotic. It consists of trees and shrubs, with 

 the calyx often partially adherent to the ovary, the corolla mono- 

 petalous, and stamens, although inserted on the corolla, usually more 

 or less united together. 



XLVIII. OLEACEJE. THE OLIVE FAMILY. 



(JasminacecR, 1st edit.) 



Trees, shrubs, or tall climbers, with opposite (or in a very 

 few exotic species alternate) leaves, entire or pinnate, and 

 flowers usually in terminal panicles or clusters. Calyx and 

 corolla regular, each of 4 or 5 divisions, or in a few species 

 entirely deficient. Stamens 2. Ovary and fruit 2-celled, each 

 cell containing 1 or 2 seeds. 



An Order widely spread over nearly the whole of the globe, readily 

 known by the 2 stamens inserted at the base of the corolla, without 

 reference to the number of its divisions. It is commonly divided into 

 two : OUacea proper, with the divisions of the corolla 4 or 2, and 

 usually valvate in the bud, which comprises the two British genera, as 

 well as the Olive (Olea) and the Lilac (Syringa), Filarea (PhiUyrea), 

 Chionantkus, and Forsythia of our shrubberies ; and Jasminece, consisting 

 of Jasminum (Jessamine) and some other small exotic genera, which 

 have 5 or more divisions to the corolla, overlapping each other and 

 obliquely twisted in the bud. The seeds also have usually a consider- 

 able albumen in the one tribe and little or none in the other, but this 

 difference is not constant. 



Trees, with pinnate leaves, and a dry, oblong, linear fruit . . 1. FRAXINUS. 

 Shrubs, with simple leaves, and a berry 2. LIQUSTRUM. 



I. FRAXINUS. ASH. 



Trees, with pinnate leaves, and a dry fruit produced at the top into 

 an oblong, rather firm wing, and divided at the base into 2 cells, each 

 containing a single seed. Calyx and corolla either none, or -in some 

 exotic species 4-lobed. 



A small genus, limited to the northern hemisphere, without the 

 tropics. Several American species are to be met with in our planta- 

 tions. 



1. F. excelsior, Linn. (fig. 670). Common Ash. A tall, handsome 

 tree, with opposite, deciduous, pinnate leaves, consisting of from 7 to 

 11 ovate-lanceolate, toothed segments. The flowers open before the 

 leaves, and appear at first sight like clusters of stamens issuing from 

 opposite buds along the last year's shoots, each cluster surrounded by 

 a few small, woolly scales. On examination it will be found to consist 

 of a number of pedicels, arranged in a short raceme, each pedicel bear- 

 ing a pair of sessile anthers, with an ovary in the middle, ending in a 

 straight style with a thickened stigma. The capsules, commonly called 

 keys, are, including the wing, about an inch and a half long. 



In woods, throughout temperate Europe and western Asia, extending 

 northwards into Scandinavia, but generally replaced in southern Europe 



