106 THE TREES AND SHRUBS [LECT. 



Sibthorp, who notices the V. myrtittus as occurring 

 in the mountains of Bithynia, does not identify it 

 with any of the plants mentioned by Dioscorides. 



LIGUSTRUM. 



The Ligustrum vulgar e, or Privet, is a common 

 shrub both in Greece and Italy, but I have pointed 

 out h that there is reason to doubt, whether the 

 Ligustrum of Virgil does not mean a different plant, 

 although it probably was intended by Pliny and 

 Columella to indicate the one now commonly 

 known by that name. 



PHILLYREA. 



Two species are noticed by Sibthorp, and four 

 by Manetti. Of these the latifolia, as has been 

 already stated, is identified with the (f)t\Xvpea of 

 Dioscorides ; but it is not probable that the other 

 species were distinguished from it. 



JASMINUM. 



Although the common Jasmine, Jasminum offici- 

 nale, is so abundant in most parts of Europe, 

 and especially in Greece and the Levant, it does 

 not appear to have been known to the ancients, 

 and its native country is probably Arabia, from 

 which, according to Forskahl 1 , its name is derived. 



CONVOLVULUS. 



Three shrubby species are mentioned by Sib- 

 thorp ; and one, C. cneorum, is noticed by Manetti. 



h Roman Husbandry, p. 239. ! Fl. sEffypt. Aral., p. 59. 



