204 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



Madagascar {Tanghinia venenijera) furnishes the very 

 poisonous seeds called Ordeal poison, or Tanghin. The 

 most common ornamental plant of this family is the 

 Oleander (Nereum oleander), from the Levant, which has 

 been cultivated in England and this country for two or 

 three hundred years. The whole plant is somewhat 

 poisonous. 



12. Oleaceae. The Olive family contains two hundred 

 and eighty widely distributed species, with four-parted 

 flowers, two stamens, and two-celled ovaries. The Olive 

 (^Olea Europaa) is an important representative, now culti- 

 vated in all warm countries. It came probably from Asia 

 originally. It is a small evergreen tree, bearing bluish 

 oily drupes, from which olive-oil or sweet-oil is expressed. 

 The hard wood is sometimes used in turnery, etc. Valuable 

 timber, for use in turnery, manufacture of implements, etc., 

 is supplied by various species of Ash {Fraxinua). Of the 

 ornamental representatives, the following are common: 

 Jessamine (Jasminuni), Lilac {Syringa), Fringe-tree (CAi- 

 onanihus), Privet {Ligiisirurri) , Forsythia, etc. 



13. Ebenaceae. The Ebony family. Mostly trop- 

 ical plants, trees, or shrubs ; about two hundred and fifty 

 species. Our only representative is the Persimmon (JDios- 

 pyros Virginiana), a small tree with edible fruit. The. 

 hard, black wood, known as ebony, is furnished by several 

 species of Diospyros. That of D. reticulata, from the island 

 of Mauritius, is considered the best. 



14. Primulaceae. The two hundred and fifty species 

 of the Primrose family are mostly found in the North 

 Temperate Zone. They are herbs with simple, and 

 mostly radical, leaves, and a many-seeded ovary, with a 

 free central placenta. This family furnishes very many 



