olea] 



Cf)C Crca^tiry at Matzny. 



810 



OLEANDER. Nerimn, Oleander. 



OLEANDRA. A genus of ferns belong- 

 ing to the Aspidiece, amongst which they 

 are known by their simple fronds, com- 

 bined with free veins, and sori placed near 

 the base of the veins. They have globose 

 sori and remform indusia, and hence hav- 

 ing also free veins, they are technically 



frequently abortive, and the other ripening 

 only one seed. 



The Common Olive, O. europcea, was one 

 of the plants brought into cultivation at a 

 very early period of man's history, and con- 

 siderable doubts now exist as to its native 

 country; some authors supposing it to have 

 originally belonged to Western Asia, from 

 whence it migrated into Southern Europe 

 and Northern Africa, while others regard 

 it as indigenous to both Europe and Asia. 

 The tree seldom exceeds twenty feet in 

 height, and has oblong or lance-shaped 

 leaves smooth up*on the upper surface but 

 hoary underneath, axillary erect racemes 

 of flowers, and pendulous ellipsoidal fruits. 

 It is a tree of slow growth, very tenacious 

 of life and of great longevity -so great, 

 indeed, that it is thought probable that 

 the trees at present existing in the Vale of 

 Gethsemane are those which existed at the 

 commencement of the Christian era. 



Two varieties of Olive are distinguished, 

 namely : the Oleaster or Wild Olive, the 

 branches of which are more or less four- 

 sided and spiny, the leaves oblong or oval, 

 and the fruit small and valueless; and the 

 Cultivated Olive (var. sativa), which has 

 roundish unarmed branches, lance-shaped 

 leaves, and large oily fruits varying in 

 form, size, and colour in each of the nume- 

 rous subvarieties. The principal products 

 of this tree are olive-oil and pickling olives, 

 and for these it is extensively cultivated 

 in Italy, Southern France, Spain, and other 

 parts of Southern Europe, in Northern 

 Africa, Western Asia, Australia, &c. The 

 oil is derived from the flesh of the fruit, 

 and is obtained by first passing the olives 

 through a mill with crushing stones ar- 

 ranged so as to bruise the flesh without 

 breaking the kernels, after which the mass 

 is put into bags and subjected to pressure 

 in a screw-press— the first product being 

 termed virgin oil. A second quality is ob- 

 tained by moistening the marc or cake with 

 boiling water and re-pressing it; and a 

 third by crushing the cake so as to break 

 the stones, and then boiling andagain press- 

 ing it. Olive-oil is imported from several 

 Italian ports, and also from France, Spain, 

 Portugal, Morocco, &c. That from Leg- 

 horn, called Florence oil, is the kind used 

 in this country as salad oil, and comes in 

 flasks surrounded by rushwork ; but Galli- 

 poli oil, which forms the bulk of that im- 

 ported, comes in casks, and Lucca oil in 

 jars holding nineteen gallons. In the olive 

 countries, oil forms an important article 

 of food, but with us it is only eaten as a 

 condiment, the bulk of the large quantity 

 imported being consumed in the arts and 

 manufactures. The pickling olives are 

 the unripe fruits deprived of a portion of 

 their bitterness by soaking in water to 

 which lime and wood ashes are sometimes 

 added, and then bottled in salt-and-water 

 flavoured with aromatics. The wood of the 

 Olive-tree is bea utifully clouded and veined, 

 especially the root part. [A. S.J 



OLEAGINOUS. Fleshy in substance, but 

 filled with oil. 



oleandra "Wallichii. 



not far removed from Lastrea ; but their 

 aspect is altogether different, and they are 

 generally regarded as distinct. The rhi- 

 zomes are creeping in some, as 0. nodosa, 

 erect and frutescent in others as 0. nerii- 

 formis; but the stipitesare nodosely arti- 

 culate, and the fronds undivided and strap- 

 shaped, the veins being simple or forked 

 and parallel, and the sori placed very near 

 the mid-rib of the fronds. They are 

 tropical or sub- tropical plants of Asia, 

 Africa, and America. [T. M.] 



OLEANDRE. (Fr.) Nerium. 



OLEARIA. A genus of Composite of 

 the tribe Asleroidece, very nearly allied to 

 Aster itself, and only distinguished from 

 Eurybia, which generally represents lister 

 in Australiaand NowZealand, bythe pappus 

 being more distinctly double, and the outer 

 ring of seta? being shorter and often more 

 chaff-like. It consists of about a dozen 

 shrubs, natives of Australia or New Zea- 

 land, with small entire or toothed leaves, 

 cottony underneath. The flower-heads arc 

 usually larger than in Eurybia, and either 

 solitary or two or three together at the 

 summit of the branches. One species, 0. 

 dentata, from New South Wales, has been 

 occasionally cultivated in our greenhouses. 



OLEASTERS. Lindley's name for the 

 Ekeagnacece. 



OLERACEOUS. Having esculent pro- 

 perties, that is to say, fit for kitchen use. of 

 the nature of a potherb. Also, growing in 

 cultivated places. 



OLFERSIA. A genus of aerostichaceous 

 ferns with creeping rhizomes and dimor- 

 phous fronds, found chiefly in tropical 

 America. The typical species is O. cerviua. 



