OLIVE FAMILY. 279 



8. P3EIPLOCA. (Name, a Greek word, implieg that the plant twines.) 

 P. Grseea, of S. Eu., cult, as an ornamental twiner, hardy thro'ugh the 



Middle States : smooth, with opposite ovate mostly pointed leaves, on short 

 petiole.^, and lateral e/mcs of rather small flowers, the corolla greenish-yellow 

 ■with the upper face of tho ohiong lobes brownish-purple : in summer. 



9. STAPELIA. (Xamed for a Dutch naturalist, Z>r. Fan 5tap(-/.) Strange- 

 looking fleshy plants of tho Cape of Good Hope, cult, in conservatories along 

 with Cactuses. The commonest u 



S. birstlta.. Stems or branches G'-IO' high, with concave sides, pale and 

 obscurely downy ; flower 3' -4' in diameter, dull purple and yellowish with 

 darker transverse stripes, beset with ])urple very long hairs, and with denser 

 hairiness towards the centre, exhaling a most disgusting odor, not unlike that 

 of putrid meat. 



89. OLEACE^, OLIVE FAMILY. 



Trees or .^hrnbs, chiefly smooth, without milky juice, distinguished 

 among monopetalous plants with.-fi-ee ovary by the regular flowers 

 having stamens almost always 2^ and always fewer than the 4 (some- 

 times 5 or more) divisions of the corolla, the ovary- 2-eelled and 

 (except in Ja<minum and Forsythia) with one pair of ovules in 

 each cell : style if any only one, rarely 2-cleft. A few are nearly 

 or quite polypetalous ; others apetalous. 



§ 1. Calyx omd corolla with 5-8 lobea A single erect'ovule and seed in each cell. 



1. JASMINUM. Corolla salver-shaped, the lobes convolute in the bud. Stamens 



2, included in the tube. Ovary and the berry-like trait 2-lobed, 2-seeded. 



§ 2. Calyx and corolla with the parts in fowrs^ or sometimes (in Fraxinus) one or 

 both wanting. Ovules hanging, usually a pair in each cell, many in No. 2. 

 Leaves opposite, except accidentally. 



* Leaves simple : flowers perfect and complete. 

 4- Ovides and seeds numerous or several in each cell of the ovary and pod. " 



2. FOKSYTHIA. Corolla golden yellow, hell-shaped, 4-lobed, the lobes con- 



volute m the bud. The 2 stamens and style short. Fod ovate. Leaves 

 deciduous. 



-t- H- Ocules a pair in each cell, but the seeds often fewer. 



3. SYRINGA. Corolla salver-form, the lobes valvate in the bud, the tube much 



longer than the 4-toothed calyx. Fruit a pod, 4-seeded, flattened contrary 

 to the narrow partition, 2-valved, the valves almost conduplicate. Seeds 

 slightly wing-margined. Leaves deciduous. 



4. LIGUSTRUM. Corolla short fumiel-foi-m, with spreading ovate obtuse lobes, 



valvate in the bud, white. Fruit a 1 - 4-seeded black berry. Leaves lirm 

 and thickish, but deciduous. • 



B. OLEA. Corolla short, boll-shaped, or deeply cleft into 4 spreading lobes, white. 

 i''mit a drupe, the hard stone often becoming 1-eelled and 1-seeded. Leaves 

 evergi'een. "'' 



6. CHIONANTHUS. Corolla white, 4-parted, or of 4 very long and naiTOW linear 



petals slightly or scarcely united at their base; to which the 2 (rarely 3 or 

 even 4 in cultivation) very short stamens barely adhere. Frait a fleshy and 



f lobular drupe, the stone becoming 1-celled and commonly 1-seeded. Leaves 

 eciduous. 



* * Leaves jyinTiaiej flowers polygamous orditscious, in most species apetalous. 



7. FRAXINUS. Calyx small, sometimes obsolete or wholly wanting. Petals 4, 



2, ornone. Anthers large. Fruit a simple samara oi'key (Le-ssons, p. 131, 

 fig. 300), usually beconij^jg l-celled and 1-seeded. Leaves'decidUons. 



