166 



LETTER XIII. 



the most skilful gardeners cannot keep them alive : 

 were it otherwise, there are none which it would be 

 so easy and so desirable to procure from foreign 

 countries. 



Brief as my remarks upon this tribe have been, 

 you will find that they are sufficient to enable you to 

 recognize it. Let me now turn to another. 



It is a very unusual circumstance for monopetalous 

 plants to have only two stamens, unless the corolla is 

 irregular : that is to say, unless the parts of the corolla 

 are of unequal size. There are, however, two natural 

 orders of which the essential character consists in the 

 presence of two stamens within a regular corolla. 

 Of these the Olive t7ibe is the more remarkable, and 

 that which I shall take for illustration. The Olive 

 itself is so uncommon in England, that it will be more 

 convenient to select the Privet for the plant by which 

 your notions of the tribe are to be formed. 



The Privet is a Dicotyledonous shrub, with opposite 

 leaves. Its calyx is a four-toothed cup : being com- 

 posed of four sepals united, except just at the tips 

 (Plate XIII. Q- Jig- 4.). The corolla consists of four 

 equal petals, united half-way into a tube (Jig. 1.), 

 and joining, before they expand, by their edges only. 

 The stamens are two, of a very common appearance. 

 The ovary is superior, and contains two cavities, from 

 the top of each of which hang two ovules (Jig- 5. Sc 6.); 

 it is terminated by rather a thick style, and a two- 

 lobcd stigma. To this succeeds a small round black 

 succulent fruit (Jig. J. & 8.), which usually contains 

 but one seed. This is all that you find in any others of 



