OLEACEiE. 533 



cotyledons leafy; radicle superior. — Trees or shrubs, with opposite 

 leaves (fig. 272, p. 184), which are either simple or compound. Found 

 chiefly in temperate regions. They occur in North America, Asia, 

 Europe, and Australia. There are 2 tribes of the order: — 1. 

 Oleae, with a drupaceous or berried fruit. 2. Fraxinese, with a 

 samaroid (winged) fruit. Lindley mentions 26 genera, including 144 

 species. Examples — Olea, Ligustrum, Praxinus, Syringa, Phillyrea, 

 Chionanthus. 



The plants of the order are bitter, tonic, and astringent, and some 

 yield fixed oil. Olm europcea is the Olive-tree, the n''t (zait or salt) of 

 the Old Testament, the sKaia of the Greeks. It grows naturally on 

 the coast of the Mediterranean, and is cultivated in many parts of the 

 south of Europe. There are several varieties of the plant, two of 

 which have been long distinguished — the wild and cultivated. The 

 former is an evergreen shrub or low tree, with spiny branches and 

 round twigs ; the latter is a taller tree, without spines, and with four- 

 angled twigs. The fruit is a drupe, about the size and colour of a 

 damson. Its fleshy pericarp yields by expression olive-oil, of which the 

 finest comes from Provence and Florence. It consists of two olea- 

 ginous principles — Margarin and Elain. Olive oil has nutrient, emol- 

 lient, and laxative properties. It is used in forming ointments, lini- 

 ments, and plasters. The bark of the Olive-tree has been used as a 

 tonic j and a resinous exudation from it, called Olivile, or Olive-gum, 

 or Leccargum, is employed in the same way. Spanish or Castile soap 

 is made by mixing olive oil and soda, while soft soap is made by mix- 

 ing the oil with potash. The flowers of Olea fragrans, the Kwei-hwa of 

 the Chinese, are used to perfume teas. Several species of Ornus, more 

 particularly 0. rotundifolia and 0. europcea, yield a sweet exudation 

 called Manna, not however the |D (manna) of the Bible, on which the 

 Israelites fed. The Manna or flowering Ash is a native of southern 

 Europe, and grows abundantly in the south of Italy and in Sicily, 

 whence the Manna of commerce is imported. The tree attains a 

 height of 20 or 30 feet, and it has a fine appearance when its clusters 

 of white flowers are produced. Manna is the concrete juice of the 

 tree, which flows out after incisions or insect-punctures. It contains 

 a peculiar sweet principle called Mannite. Manna is nutritive and laxa- 

 tive, and is sometimes administered to infants and young children, on 

 account of the mildness of its action. Syringa vulgaris, common LHac, 

 has a febrifuge bark, which is extensively employed by the peasants 

 in Brenne for the cure of the endemic intermittent fever. According 

 to MeUlet this quality is owing to a principle which he calls Lilacine. 

 Fraxinus excelsior, the common Ash, is one of the trees which comes 

 late into leaf, and the leaves of which fall off early in autumn. Some 

 specimens attain the height of 70, 90, or 100 feet, with a circum- 

 ference of 20 or 30 feet. The wood of the tree is tough and elastic, 



