974 LXXVIII. OLEACE^. [Olea. 



the endocarp usually hard. Seed solitary or rarely 2 ; albumen copious, fleshy. 

 — Trees or rarely shrubs. Leaves opposite, entire. Flowers small, in axillary 

 panicles or clusters, rarely also terminal. 



The genus is widely dispersed over the warmer regions o{ the Old World, with one North 

 Amerioan species. The only Australian species, with the inflorescence less exclusively axillary 

 than in most others, extends only to New Caledonia. — Benth. 



1. O. paniculata (flowers in panicles), JR. Br. Prod. 523 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. 

 iv. 297. A tree of moderate size, quite glabrous. Leaves on rather long 

 petioles, ovate-lanceolate or elliptical, acuminate, 2 to 3 or rarely 4in. long, 

 penniveined underneath but not conspicuously reticulate. Flowers small, all 

 pedicellate in loose trichotomous panicles, terminal or more frequently in the 

 upper axils, and sometimes exceeding the leaves. Calyx scarcely 1 line diameter. 

 Corolla- tube short and broad, the lobes rather above 1 line diameter. Anthers 

 as long as the corolla, on very short broad filaments. Style very short ; stigma 

 either broad, thick, and shortly 2-lobed, or clavate and unilateral. Drupe ovoid, 

 resembling that of the common olive. — DC. Prod. viii. 287. 



Hab.: Keppel Bay, iJ. Brown; Brisbane Eiver, Moreton Bay, i^raser, i*". v. Mueller; Eock- 

 hampton, TAozet ; Rockingham Bay, Dallachy ; Evelyn, Herberton, J. F. Bailey. 



The species is also in New Caledonia ( Deplanche, n. 70). The panicles are often apparently 

 terminal, but even then there are generally two peduncles, with the terminal shoot ultimately 

 growing out between them. — Benth. 



Wood whitish, darkening towards the centre ; prettily figured, hard, close-grained, and when 

 newly cut of a rose-like fragrance. — Bailey's Gat. Ql. Woods No. 275. 



5. LIGUSTRUM, Linn. 

 (From ligare, to tie ; branches of some species flexible. 

 Calyx small, 4-toothed. Corolla with a short tube and 4 lobes, valvate or 

 slightly imbricate in the bud. Ovules 2 in each cell of the ovary, pendulous. 

 Style short. Fruit a berry. Seeds 4 or fewer ; albumen copious, fleshy or 

 almost cartilaginofls. — Shrubs or rarely trees. Leaves opposite, entire. Flowers 

 white, rather small, in terminal trichotomous panicles. 



The genua is spread over the temperate and mountain-tropical regions of Asia and Europe. 

 The only Australian species is endemic, but very closely allied to two of the East Asiatic ones. 

 As a genus, Ligustrum is only to be distinguished from Olea by the endocarp, scarcely or not at 

 all hardened, and generally by the inflorescence. — Benth. 



1. I., australianum (Australian), F. r. M. Fragm. v. 20 ; Benth. FL Austr. 

 iv. 298. A shrub of several feet, glabrous except the minutely pubescent 

 inflorescence. Leaves shortly petiolate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, obtusely 

 acuminate, evergreen and smooth on both sides, without prominent veins, 1| 

 to 3in. long. Flowers small and very numerous, in a broad pyramidal terminal 

 panicle. Pedicels short. Calyx truncate. Corolla-tube exceedingly short ; 

 lobes about 1 line long. Filaments about half as long as the corolla. Style 

 short, cylindrical, with a clavate stigma. Fruit unknown. 



Hab.: Dalrymple Gap, Eockingham Bay, Dallachy. 



Very nearly allied to L. lucidum, a Chinese species much cultivated in European gardens, but 

 the flowers appear to be considerably smaller. The several evergreen species of Ligustrum 

 require, however, a careful revision, and may prove to be nearly all varieties of one species 

 having a wide range in Eastern Asia. — Benth. 



Ordee LXXIX. APOCYNACE^. 



Flowers regular. Calyx free, divided nearly or quite to the base into 5 

 segments or sepals imbricate in the bud, bearing occasionally small glands or 

 scales inside at the base. Corolla regular, with 5 spreading lobes, contorted- 

 imbricate or rarely valvate in the bud, the throat sometimes closed with a 

 corona of scales, and frequently hairy. Stamens 6, inserted in the tube, 

 alternating with the corolla-lobes ; anthers erect, turned ipwards, 2-celled, 



