172 OLEA EUROPuEA 



The fruit of the olive is, however, by far the most useful 

 product of the plant, for independently of its great value when ripe 

 as the source of olive oil already fully described, it is much 

 esteemed in its unripe condition as a dessert. For this purpose 

 the green unripe fruits are first deprived of some of their bitter- 

 ness by repeatedly steeping them in water, to which lime and 

 wood ashes are sometimes added to shorten the process, and then 

 preserved by bottling them in a slightly aromatised solution of 

 salt. Several varieties of preserved olives are met with, but 

 the most common are the small French or Provence olives, and 

 the large Spanish olives. The kind called Olives a la Picholine 

 are prepared by steeping olives in a solution of lime and wood 

 ashes. 



Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. i, p. 665 ; Pharmacographia, p. 375 ; 

 Per. Mat. Med., by B. & E., p. 661 ; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., 

 p. 606; Steph. & Church., Med. Bot., by Burnett, pi. 15, 

 vol. i; Jl. Soc. Arts, May 22, 1868; Ph. JL, Feb., 1854, p. 353. 



DESCRIPTION OP PLATE. 



Drawn from a specimen in the British Museum collected at Montpellier. 



1. Branch in flower. 



2. Section of flower. 



3. Corolla laid open, with stamens. 



4. Transverse section of ovary. 



5. Ripe fruit. 



6. Same with half the sarcocarp removed to show the stone. 



7. Stone half cut away, showing the seed. 



8. Section of seed. 



9. Embryo. 



(2, 3, 4 enlarged.) 



