OLEACE^E. 441 



of much importance; the fruit of B. longifolia or Illupic tree, when pressed, 

 gives out an abundance of oil, which is employed in India for food, soap- 

 making, and burning; it is also thought beneficial as an external application 

 in cutaneous disorders, and a decoction of the leaves and the milky juice, are 

 used in rheumatic affections. The vegetable butter of India, called Ghee, is 

 obtained from B. butyracea. (Royle, Ittus., 263.) The Butter Tree of 

 Mungo Park is also supposed to be B. Parkii ; the seeds of this produce, on 

 expression, a solid oil, which is in general use in some parts of Africa, both 

 for food and as an external application in cases of rheumatism, cutaneous 

 eruptions, &c. ; the flowers are also employed as food and to flavour spi- 

 rituous liquors, which use is likewise made of those of B. latifolia in India. 



The bark of several species of Bumelia is tonic and febrifugal ; this is 

 very marked in B. nigra; the fruit of B. retusa is milky, that of B. lyci- 

 oides, a native of the Southern States, is austere, and is said to be useful in 

 bowel complaints. The bark called Monesia, which is derived from South 

 America, is said to be the product of a plant of this order ; MM. Derosne, 

 Henry, and Payen, who made a chemical examination of it, think it is a 

 Chrysophyllum, but other naturalists suppose it is obtained from a Rhizo- 

 phora, or an Acacia. It is certainly produced by a large-sized tree, and re- 

 sembles the bark of one of the Sapotacece, more than that of any of the 

 orders. It is of a dark-brown colour within, and of a grayish tint externally ; 

 having a short fracture. Its taste is at first saccharine, but soon becomes acrid 

 and irritating. It has been found useful in diarrhoea, menorrhagia, leucor- 

 rhoea, and haemoptysis, and has been tried with various success, in debility 

 of the stomach, bronchitis, &c. It has also been applied topically in ulcers, 

 haemorrhoids, ophthalmia, &c. It is given in extract, in doses of sixteen to 

 twenty-four grains, which are increased as occasion may require. [Am. Jour. 

 Pharm., xiii. 151 ; Dunglison, Neiv Remedies, 438.) 



Group XXIX.-Oleales. 



Order 70.— OLEACE.E.— Be Candolle. 



Flowers perfect, rarely dioecious. Calyx monosepalous, persistent, generally 4-part- 

 ed. Corolla hypogynous, monopetalous, 4-cleft, sometimes apetalous, aestivation valvate. 

 Stamens 2, alternate with the segments of the corolla; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing longi- 

 tudinally, ovary simple, 2-celled, cells 2-seeded ; style 1 or U ; stigma undivided or bifid. 

 Fruit drupaceous, berried or capsular, often by abortion 1-seeded. Seeds with dense, 

 fleshy, abundant albumen, embryo straight. 



This order is a small but important one ; it consists of trees and shrubs 

 with usually dichotomous branches, terminating by a conspicuous bud ; the 

 leaves are simple or sometimes pinnated, and alternate. The flowers are in 

 racemes or panicles, either terminal or axillary, the pedicels opposite, with 

 single bracts. It has been divided into several tribes from the difference of 

 fruit ; as Praxinece, where it is dry and samaroid ; Syringce, where it is dry 

 and capsular ; Oleinece, where it is drupaceous and fleshy. The species are 

 principally natives of temperate climates. Besides Manna and Olive Oil 

 obtained from P)-axinus and Olea, several other products of this order require 

 notice. The bark of the root of Chionanthus virginica, a native shrub, is 

 tonic and febrifuge with some acro-narcotic properties, whence it is called 

 Poison ash; this bark is also used in a cataplasm as an application to 

 wounds and ulcers. The fruit of Noronhia eraarginata is eaten in the Isles 

 of France and Madagascar. The leaves of Phillyrea latifolia are used in 



