Styrax.] XLVII. LENTIBULACE^R. 297 



family, which is entirely exotic. It consists of trees and shrubs, with 

 • the calyx often partially adherent to the ovary, the corolla mono- 

 petalous, and stamens, although inserted on the corolla, usually more 

 or less united together. 



XLVIII. OLEACE^E. THE OLIVE FAMILY. 



(JasminacecB, 1st edit.) 

 Trees, shrubs, or tall climbers, with opposite (or in a very 

 few exotic species alternate) leaves, entire or pinnate, and 

 flowers usually in terminal panicles or clusters. Calyx and 

 corolla regular, each of 4 or 5 divisions, or in a few species 

 entirely deficient. Stamens 2. Ovary and fruit 2-celled, each 

 cell containing 1 or 2 seeds. 



An Order widely spread over nearly the whole of the globe, readily 

 known by the 2 stamens inserted at the base of the corolla, without 

 reference to the number of its divisions. It is commonly divided into 

 two : — OleacecB proper, with the divisions of the corolla 4 or 2, and 

 usually valvate in the bud, which comprises the two British genera, as 

 well as the Olive (Olea) and the Lilac (Syringa), Filar ea (Phillyrea), 

 Chionanthus, and Forsythia of our shrubberies ; and Jasminece, consisting 

 of Jasminum (Jessamine) and some other small exotic genera, which 

 have 5 or more divisions to the corolla, overlapping each other and 

 obliquely twisted in the bud. The seeds also have usually a consider- 

 able albumen in the one tribe and little or none in the other, but this 

 difference is not constant. 



Trees, with pinnate leaves, and a dry, oblong, linear fruit . . 1. Fraxinus. 

 Shrubs, with simple leaves, and a berry 2. Ligustrum. 



I. FRAXINUS. ASH. 



Trees, with pinnate leaves, and a dry fruit produced at the top into 

 an oblong, rather firm wing, and divided at the base into 2 cells, each 

 containing a single seed. Calyx and corolla either none, or in some 

 exotic species 4-lobed. 



A small genus, limited to the northern hemisphere, without the 

 tropics. Several American species are to be met with in our planta- 

 tions. 



1. F. excelsior, Linn. (fig. 670). Common Ash. — A tall, handsome 

 tree, with opposite, deciduous, pinnate leaves, consisting of from 7 to 

 11 ovate-lanceolate, toothed segments. The flowers open before the 

 leaves, and appear at first sight like clusters of stamens issuing from 

 opposite buds along the last year's shoots, each cluster surrounded by 

 a few small, woolly scales. On examination it will be found to consist 

 of a number of pedicels, arranged in a short raceme, each pedicel bear- 

 ing a pair of sessile anthers, with an ovary in the middle, ending in a 

 straight style with a thickened stigma. The capsules, commonly called 

 keys, are, including the wing, about an inch and a half long. 



In woods, throughout temperate Europe and western Asia, extending 

 northwards into Scandinavia, but generally replaced in southern Europe 



