CHAP. XCVII. i^L/EAGNA'CETE. isLiEA'GNUS. 132 J 



surrounds the style of an abortive pistil. — Species several ; arborescent 

 or shrubby ; inhabitants of Ceylon, Nepal, Japan, south of Europe, and 

 North America. The fleshy part of the fruit is, in some, eatable. Leaves 

 alternate, entire, bearing, as docs the bark of growing shoots, scales, or stars 

 of hairs. Flowers axillary, pediceled. (Chiefly T. JVecs ab Esenbeck, Gen. 

 PL Fl. Germ., whose elucidation relates to E. angustifolia L. ; Lindley; and 

 Ach. Rich.) 



ZTippo'phae L. Flowers unisexual, those of the two sexes upon distinct 

 plants. — Male flower. Calyx arched, seeming as if constituted of 2 leaves 

 connate at the tip. Stamens 4, not extended out of the calyx. — Female 

 flower. Calyx tubular, cloven at the top, including the ovary, and becom- 

 ing eventually succulent. Ovary of 1 cell. Ovule 1. Style short. Stigma 

 long, with a longitudinal furrow. Fruit consisting of a polished achenium, 

 that lias a slight furrow on one side, and of the calyx, now enlarged, and 

 succulent with an acid juice. Seed erect. Embryo erect. — Two species 

 are known, one wild in Europe, the other in Nepal. The European one is 

 partially spiny. Both have leaves narrow, entire, scaly, and silvery, es- 

 pecially beneath. The succulent part of the fruit is eatable. (T. Nces ab 

 EsenbecJc, Gen. PI. Fl. Germ. ; Smith, Eng. Flora ; and obs.) 



Shephe'rdlj Nutt. Flowers unisexual ; those of the two sexes upon distinct 

 plants. — Male flower. Calyx 4-cleft. Stamens 8, included, as to length, 

 within the calyx; alternate with 8 glands. — Female flower. Calyx bell- 

 shaped, its limb 4-parted, flat, the portions equal; its tube ? adnate to the 

 ovary. Ovule 1. Style 1. Stigma oblique. Fruit as in i/ippophae. — Two 

 species are known, both natives of North America, and having the aspect of 

 -Klaeagnus ; one a small tree, the other a shrub. Their leaves are entire, and 

 bear scales. Male flowers ? laterally aggregate, in groups that resemble 

 a catkin. Female flowers smaller than the male ones, shortly pedunculate 

 (Nutt. Gen.)i racemose at the ends of the branches (Lindley m Encyc. of 

 PI.; Nuttall.). 



Genus I. 



[± 



Is'LiEA'GNUS Toum. The Eljeagnus, Oleaster, or Wild Olive 

 TliEE. Lin. Syst. Tetrandria Monogynia. 



Identification. Tourn. Cor., 51. ; Ach. Rich. Monogr., p. 26. j T. Nees ab Esenbeck, Gen. PI. Fl. 

 Germanics ; N. Du Ham., 2. p. 87. 



Synonymes. Chalef, Fr. ; Wilde Oelbaum, Ger. 



Derivation. " The elaiagnos of Theophrastus was a plant with hoary leaves, growing in marshy 

 places in Arcadia, and was probably a species of Salix, although certainly not S. babylonica, as 

 Sprengel has stated it to be. It was named from its resemblance to the elaia, or olive, from which 

 it differed in not bearing fruit. Dioscorides writes elceagros, which means the wild olive; and 

 some botanists have adopted this reading, which is most likely the true one. The plants to which 

 the name iJlasagnus is now applied are also something like the olive. The French call the Z?la3ag- 

 nus, chalef; a slight alteration, according to Golius, of khalef, the Arabic name of the willow; 

 but more probably of kalaf, the Persian name of the £la?agnus itself." [Lindley in Bot. Reg., 

 t. 1156, adapted.) Oleaster is a Latin word, which is interpreted a wild olive tree ; and perhaps 

 it is derived from olea, an olive tree, and ins tar, likeness. 



Description, Sfc. Deciduous shrubs, or low trees; natives of the south of 

 Europe, the Levant, the Himalayas, and North America. In British gardens, 

 there are two or three species which grow freely in any soil tolerably dry, and 

 are readily propagated by seeds, layers, or cuttings. 



1 1. E. horte'nsis Bieb. The Garden Elaeagnus, Oleaster, or Wild 

 Olive Tree. 



Identification. Bieb. Fl. Taur. Cauc. p. 113. 



Synompnes. E. angustifdia L., Willd. Sp. PL, 1. p. 688., Rcem. et Schult. St/st. Ves., 3. p. 478., 



Pall. Fl. Ross, p. 10. t. 4., N. Du Ham., 2. p. 87., Bot. Reg., t 1156. ; E. in^rmis Mill. Did., No. 2. ; 



E. arg<5nteus Ma-nch Mcth., p. 6.38. ; E. orientulis Delisle; ? E. argfcntea Wats. Dcnd. Brit., t. 161.; 



Jerusalem Willow ; Olivier de Bohfeme, Chalef a Feuilles etroites, Fr. ; schinalblattriger Oleaster, 



Ger. 



