554 THE JESSAMINE FAMILY. 



usually in terminal panicles or clusters. Calyx and corolla re- 

 gular, each of 4 or 5 divisions, or in a few species entirely defi- 

 cient. 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 two stamens inserted at the base of the corolla, without 

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

 two : — the Olive tribe, 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), Filarea (Phillyrea) , 

 Chionantkus, and Forsythia of our shrubberies ; and the true Jessamine 

 tribe, consisting of 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 con- 

 siderable 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. Ash. 

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



I. ASH. FKAXINTTS. 



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

 an oblong, rather firm wing, and divided at the base into two 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. 



1. Common Ash. Fraxinus excelsior, Linn. (Fig. G63.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1692.) 



A tall, handsome tree, with opposite, deciduous, pinnate leaves, con- 

 sisting 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 bearing a pair of sessile anthers, with an ovary in the 

 middle, ending in a straight style with a thickened stigma. The cap- 

 sules, commonly called keys, are, including the wing, about an inch 

 and a half long. 



