OLEACEAE 307 



CHIONANTHUS, Linnaeus. (The Fringk TkEKs.) 



Comprises two or three species of shrubs or small trees, in 

 the eastern United States and China. 



Chionanthus Virginica, L. 



Grandsir Graybeard. (White Ash), 



A large shrub, or sometimes a small tree three or four inches 

 in diameter and twenty feet tall, with opposite deciduous leaves, 

 delicate but showy white flowers in lace-like clusters in April (or 

 earlier southward and later northward), and bluish-black plum- 

 like (inedible) fruits in fall. Inconspicuous when not in bloom. 

 Often cultivated for ornament. A decoction of the bark of the 

 root has tonic and anti-periodic properties, and is used locally for 

 snake-bites, fevers, and various horse ailments. It is said also 

 to enter into the composition of some well-known patent medi- 

 cines. 



Grows in moderately rich woods, hammocks, etc., where fire 



is infrequent. 



lA. Lauderdale County. 



2A. Lawrence, Winston, Cullman and Blount Counties. 



2B. Tuscaloosa County. 



3. Shelby County. 



4. Clay County. 



5. Elmore and Chilton Counties. 

 6C. Greene County. 



7. Montgomery County. Dallas County (Cocks), 

 low. Sumter and Choctaw Counties. 



11. Choctaw County. 



12. Geneva County. 



OSMANTHUS, Loureiro. (Perhaps has no common 

 name in Alabama.) 



Osmanthus Americanus (L.) B. &: H. (Olea Aiiicricaiui. L.) 



(Map 23) 



A small evergreen tree, a foot or less in diameter, and rarely 

 more than thirty feet tall, with comparatively few branches, and in- 

 conspicuous greenish flowers. Blooms mostly in April, and has 

 fruits something like small olives in the fall. This species is so 

 little known to persons other than botanists that it does not seem 



