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OLEACE^E 



Ord. XLVIII. Oleace^e.— The Olive Family 



Trees or shrubs, chiefly inhabiting the temperate regions of the 

 Northern Hemisphere. Their branches are opposite, and often 

 end in conspicuous buds ; the leaves, also opposite, are either 

 simple or pinnate, and exstipulate ; and the -flowers are in panicled 

 cymes. The calyx is either 4-cleft, inferior and persistent, or 

 absent ; the corolla either polysymmetric, hypogynous, of 4 united 

 or free petals, valvate in bud, or absent ; stamens 2 ; ovary 2- 



chambered, with 2 — 3 ovules 

 in each chamber ; style 1 ; 

 fruit a samara, a capsule, or 

 berry-like, seldom perfecting 

 more than 2 seeds. By far 

 the most important plant^ in 

 the Order is the Olive (Olea 

 europcea), from which it takes 

 its name, one of the earliest 

 plants cultivated by man. Its 

 bark is bitter and astringent, 

 and its wood remarkably 

 close - grained, handsomely 

 mottled, and durable. The 

 fruit is fleshy and drupe-like, 

 enclosing a hard stone, and 

 the oil is expressed from the 

 fleshy pericarp. The Lilac 

 (Syringa vulgaris) is a 

 favourite in our shrubberies. 

 Frdxinus Ornus, the Flower- 

 ing or Manna Ash of southern 

 Europe, also occasionally 

 grown, has white flowers, and 

 exudes a sugary substance known as manna, which is sometimes 

 used in medicine. The wood of this genus is valued for its 

 strength and elasticity. 



1. Fraxinus. — Leaves mostly pinnate ; calyx and corolla absent ; 

 fruit a pendulous single samara. 



2. Ligustrum. — Leaves simple ; calyx cup-shaped, 4-toothed ; 

 corolla funnel-shaped, 4-lobed ; fruit a nuculane. 



1. Fraxinus (Ash). — Trees with deciduous leaves, generally 

 pinnate ; polygamous flowers, with or without a 4-merous calyx 

 and corolla ; fruit a compressed samara, winged at the tip. (Name, 



FRAXINUS EXCfel.SIOR {Ash). 



