THE STORAX FAMILY. 419 



pointed at the apex and wedge-shaped, or rounded at the base ; denticulate, or 

 roughly and remotely toothed towards the apex, often entire; bright green and 

 glabrous above, white pubescent underneath; thin. A woody shrub, five to ten 

 feet high, with reddish brown, or greyish branches. 



With its exquisite, dainty white blossoms and deep green leaves this is 

 indeed one of our fairest shrubs and useful in plantini^ because, considerably 

 beyond the limits of its northern range, it is hardy. The Howers give some- 

 what the same impression as those of the orange tree, while of their intense 

 fragrance one whiff is enough ; too much, an embarrassment of sweetness. 



S. pulveriilenta, downy storax, is remarkable from the scurfy substance 

 which covers the under sides of its leaves, the calyxes, pedicels and the 

 young twigs. Its leaves, moreover, are smaller and their bloom more abun- 

 dant than that of the large-leaved storax. At maturity it is interesting to 

 notice how the capsule bursts into three sections, that the single, round seed 

 may escape readily. 



S. A;;u'r/cdna, smooth storax, as its English name implies is distinguished 

 from the others by its smoothness, although when young its petioles are 

 covered with a scurf. Generally but few flowers are grouped in the short 

 racemes, but they are slender, bell-shaped and unusually pretty. From 

 Florida and Louisiana the range of this one extends to Virginia, but in cul- 

 tivation it is hardy much further northward. 



THE OLIVE FAMILY. 



Trees or shrubs with simple or pinnate^ opposite or rarely alternate, 

 mostly etitire, leaves and which bear sjnall, regular, perfect flowers, in 

 axillary ^ or terminal inflorescences. 



GREEN ASH. {Plate CXXX/X.) 

 F? -dxlfi us lanceoldia. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Olive. Crown : round ; 20 to 6=, feet. Flori<1,i fio->-t h-Vijrd A/<ri/, M.iy . 



branches spreading. and ivcstward. 



Bark: grtyxsh brown ; furrowed. Bninchlcts: ash coloured and niarked with 

 pale, dot-like excrescences. Leaves : odd-pinnate, with from five to nine ovate, or 

 lanceolate, taper-pointed leaflets which grow on smooth petioles hardly a quarter 

 of an inch long ; sharply serrate, or entire and becoming entire towards the base. 

 Bright green on both sides and glabrous, although occasionally downy in the angles 

 of the ribs, F/owcrs ; dioecious ; the staminate ones with two or three stamens 



