Mehacea—Meha. 99 
1. MBLIA. 
Trees with alternate compound pinnate leaves and small 
flowers in large much-branched axillary panicles. Sepals and 
petals 5 or 6, the latter free, linear, contorted in estivation. 
Staminal tube long; anthers within, below the summit. Fruit 
a fleshy drupe, 1- to 5-celled; cells 1-, rarely 2-seeded. M. 
Azédarach, with bipinnate leaves and lilac fragrant flowers, will 
live in the South-west of England if protected in Winter. 
1. M. Japénica.—An ornamental tree of recent introduction. 
It attains a height of 20 to 40 feet in Japan. Leaves large, 
bipinnate; leaflets few and distant, ovate, crenate. Flowers 
lilac, fragrant, in large axillary panicles. 
Oxper XXX.—_ILICINEA. 
Shrubs or trees, evergreen or deciduous. Leaves simple, alter- 
nate, usually glabrous, coriaceous, entire or with prickly teeth, 
destitute of stipules. Flowers regular, small, white, in axillary 
or terminal cymes or fascicles. Calyx 3- to 5-partite, imbri- 
cate. Petals 4 or 5, hypogynous, connate at the base, spreading. 
Stamens 4 or 5, filaments free or slightly adhering to the base 
of the petals. Fruit a drupe, more or less fleshy, with 3 to 8 
l-seeded stones. Besides the genus Ilew, containing about 145 
widely-distributed species, there are two other genera: one 
Australasian, of three species; and one North American, with 
only one species. 
1. ILEX (including Prinos). 
Characters of the order. Primos, the ancient Greek name 
for the Holly, was formerly held to be a distinct genus, founded 
mainly upon the greater number of stones in the berries; but 
the examination of a larger number of species has induced 
botanists to unite them. Most of the species referred to it are 
deciduous. Jlex is the Latin name applied to Quércus Ilex, 
the Evergreen Oak. 
1. I. Aquifoliwm. Common Holly.—This is undoubtedly 
the handsomest of indigenous evergreen trees, especially in 
Winter, its dark green foliage contrasting so beautifully with 
the bright scarlet berries. Besides the ordinary wild form 
there is an infinity of varieties in cultivation, some of them 
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