Fraxinus. OLEACE.E. 73 



or united in pairs at the very base. Stamens 2, sometimes 3 or 4. Fruit by abortion 

 mostly 1-ceIled and 1-seeded, rarely 2-seeded ; tlie wing mainly termuial. 



Thibe II. OLEIXE.E. Fruit fleshy and indehiscent, a drupe or rarely a berry, not 

 lobed. Seed suspended or pendulous. Leaves simple. 



* Flowers apetalous, dioecious or polygamous. 



2. FORESTIERA. Calyx minute, 4-parted or toothed, sometimes wanting or deciduous. 

 Corolla none, or rarely one or two small deciduous petals. Stamens 2 to i : anthers OTate 

 or oblong. Ovary ovate, with 2 ovules in each cell: stjle slender: stigma somewhat 

 2-lobed. Drupe 1-seeded. 



* # Flowers complete, sometimes polygamous : parts of the calyx and corolla 4. 



3. CHIONANTHUS. Caly.x 4rcleft, persistent. Corolla of 4 long and linear petals, 

 which are plane in the bud with shghtly induplicate margins, and united only and often 

 slightly at the base. Stamens 2, rarely 3, sliort. Style short. Ovules a pair in each 

 cell. Drupe mostly 1-seeded. Embryo in copious fleshy albumen ; cotyledons flat. 



4. HESPEREL.^A. Calyx of 4 somewhat colored sepals, imbricated in the bud, decid- 

 uous. Corolla of 4 spatulate unguicalate petals, imbricated at summit in the bud, accres- 

 cent, deciduous. Stamens 4, hypogynous : filaments subulate : anthers oblong, mucronu- 

 late. Style stout : stigma thick, 2-lobed. Ovules a pair in each cell. 



5. OSMANTHXJS. Calyx 4-cleft, short, persistent. Corolla short, 4-cleft; the lobes 

 broad and obtuse, imbricated in the bud. Stamens 2 (rarely 4), on the short tube of the 

 corolla, included : antliers ovate. Style short ; stigma small, entire. Ovules a pair in 

 each cell. Drupe globose or ovoid, mostly 1-seeded. 



Tribe m. JASMIXEJi. Fruit didymous or septicidally 2-partible. Seeds ascend- 

 ing or erect. Parts of calyx and corolla 5 or more. 



6. MENODORA. Calyx 5-15-cleft, persistent; the lobes mostly linear. Corolla from 

 rotate to salverform ; hmb 6-6-parted, the lobes imbricated in the bud. Stamens 2, 

 rarely 3 : anthers oblong or nearly linear. Ovary emarginate : style slender : stigma 

 usually capitate or 2-lobed. Ovules 4 (or in a S. Amer. species only 2) in each cell. 

 Fruit a didymous or 2-parted at length membranaceous capsule, circumscissile at or near 

 the middle. Seeds usually a pair in each cell, large, with a thickened and spongy outer 

 coat : no albumen. Leaves often alternate ! 



1. FRAXINUS, Tourn. Ash. (Classical Latin name.) — Trees ; with rather 

 light tough wood, chiefly opposite and odd-pinnate leaves, and small flowers, in 

 panicles, developed in spring. Petals when present narrow, induplicate-valvate 

 in the bud, white : anthers yellow, large in proportion. Stigma 2-lobed. Ovules 

 a pair from the summit of each cell, only one usually fertile ; the oblong seed fill- 

 ing the cell of the samara or key-fruit. Bark of shoots ash-color. TTinter-buds 

 of few and usually dark-colored thickish scales. (Shape of the wing of samara 

 variable, not rarely some are 3-winged and 3-celled.) 



Orxus Americana, Pers. &c., is probably only Fraxinus Ornus, L., and wrongly thought 

 to be American. A host of nominal species of Ash which were named by Bosc, character- 

 ized mainly by the foliage, and upon which his herbarium throws little or no light, must 

 pass unnoticed. 



§ 1. Orxus, Pers. Flowers 2-4-petalous, polygamous (many perfect), in 

 loose panicles, which mostly terminate leaf-bearing branches or spring from the 

 axils of new leaves. 



* Petals 2 : style manifest : Calilomian. 

 F. dipetala, Hook. & Am. Small tree, glabrous : leaflets 5 to 9, oval or oblong, 

 obtuse, serrate, mostly petiolulate, an uich or two long : panicles usually clustered on short 

 lateral' spurs, naked or subtended by one or two leaves : calyx truncate and somewhat 

 toothed : petals oblong-obovate, equalling the Unear anthers : fruit from linear-oblong to 

 spatulate-oblong (usually an inch long), the flat body several-nerved on each side and 

 with sharp edges. — Bot. Beech. 362, t. 87 ; Gray, Bot. Calif, i. 472. Orms dipetala, Xutt. 

 Sylv. in. 66, t. 101. Chiomnthus fraxinifolius, Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. v. IS. — Western 

 ,r xrt of California. 



