ELHAGNACEZ. 485 
and in the female flowers it surrounds a gyneceum formed like that 
of the Oleasters. The fruit, too, is an achene resembling that of 
Shepherdia or Eleagnus, with the persisting accrescent lower part of 
the perianth forming a drupaceous indusium.' The two known 
species’ of this genus inhabit Europe and Middle Asia; they are 
shrubs with alternate leaves and sessile solitary flowers axillary to 
the lower appendages of the young branches, which, as in the last 
genus, expand at the end of the winter before the leaves are full- 
grown. 
II. AEXTOXICON SERIES. 
Aextoxicon® has dicecious flowers. The ill developed receptacle 
bears an imbricated perianth, internal to which is an androceum 
with a rudimentary gyneceum in the males, a pistil surrounded by 
a sterile androceum in the females. The perianth consists of a 
somewhat variable number of leaves, modified as follows from 
without inwards. Outside is a rather coriaceous sac covered with 
peltate hairs, globular in the bud, and bursting irregularly and falling 
off on anthesis.‘ Next come five’ imbricate® glabrous concave rounded 
scarious leaves, with their ribs radiating like a fan.’ Quite inside, 
alternating with these last come five others,’ much longer, narrower, 
petaloid, tapering at the base, traversed by a thick fleshy mid- 
rib and unequally rounded at the apex, which is imbricated 
and crumpled in estivation. The androceum usually consists of 
1 The inner layer of this indusium is not thick- 
ened as in Eleagnus ; it forms a sort of sac, the 
whole of whose inside is covered with hairs, 
especially copious above. The withered style 
often protrudes through the mouth of this sac. 
The pericarp is glabrous thin translucent, appa- 
rently homogeneous, except down two vertical 
lines which are rather thickened and contain 
much vascular tissue. The seed is not quite free 
from albumen, though it is only around the radi- 
cle that it deserves to be socalled. It is there 
white and fleshy, but higher up it only forms 
a membrane accessory to the true seed-coats. 
21L., Spee., ed. 2, 1452.—ScuxunR, Handb., 
iii. 463, t. 321—Scor., Fl. Carniol., ii. 261 
(Osyris).—LEDEB., Fl. Ross., iii. 552.—REICHB., 
Icon. t. 549, fig. 1165.— Don., Prodr. Fl. 
Nepal., 68.—Roy.e, IUl.,323.—Lowp., Encycl., 
699.—Gren. & Govr., Fl. de Fr., iii. 69. 
3. & Pav., Prodr., Fl. Per., 181, t, 29.— 
Hook., Icon., i. t. 12.—ENDL., Gen., n. 5881.— 
Bentu., in Hook, Journ. (1854), 372.—H. Bn., 
Et. Gén. du Gr. des Euphorbiac., 660, t. 27, 
fig. 26-33.—ScuLEcutL., in DC. Prodr., xiv. 
616.—A. DC., Prodr., xvi. 640.—Aigotoxicum 
Denz., in Bull. Soc. Bot., v. (1858), 214; in 
Ann. Se. Nat., sér. 4, ix. 279. 
4 This has been described as an involucre ; 
some authors, perhaps rightly, suppose it an 
outer perianth-leaf, more developed than the 
rest ; on anthesis it pretty frequently tears into 
two unequal parts. 
5 More rarely four or six. 
6 Often quincuncial. 
7 They pretty commonly tear at the edges, in 
the intervals between the ribs. They usually 
fall early, with the involucre. 
8 More rarely six, or four in the female 
flowers. 
