( 12 ) 



they are from fifteen to twenty-four lines 

 long , and from six to twelve lines broad , 

 lanceolate, entire, nearly sessile, opposite 

 and alternate 1 in the manner of the branches. 



The Olive is slow in blooming , as well as 

 in every function of vegetable life. The buds 

 begin to appear about the middle of April , 

 and the bloom is not full before the end of 

 May or the beginning of June. The flow ers 

 are small, white, slightly odoriferous, and 

 disposed in axillary racemes or clusters. A 

 peduncle about as long as the leaf issues from 

 its base , upon which the flowers are sup- 

 ported by secondary pedicles , like those of 

 the common Currant. Sometimes the clusters 

 are almost as numerous as the leaves, and 

 garnish the tree with wanton luxuriance ; at 

 others, they are thinly scattered over the 

 branches, or seen only at their extremity. It 

 is essential to remark that they are borne by 

 the shoots of the preceding year. Each flower 

 is complete in itself, consisting of a calyx, a 

 monopetalous corolla divided into four lobes, 

 and of the organs of reproduction , namely, 

 two stamina and one pistil. 



1 Folia decussata is the botanical phrase. 



