No. 209. 
C rites excels a R.Br. 
Prickly Ash or Silky Oak. 
(Family PROTEACE^E ) 
Hotanical description. Genus Orites, R. Brown in Prod. Flor. Nov. Holl., p. 387 
(1810). 
Flowers hermaphrodite. 
Perianth regular, nearly cylindrical in the bud, the segments free or nearly so, dilated at the end 
into short, usually concave laminae. 
Anthers all perfect, enclosed in the perianth laminae in the bud, but with short filaments inserted 
below the laminae, the cells adnate to the slender connective which is not produced beyond 
them and is often scarcely conspicuous. 
Hypogynous glands linear, obtuse. 
Ovary sessile, with a terminal filiform straight style, scarcely thickened at the end, obtuse, with 
a small terminal stigma ; ovules 2, amphitropous, laterally attached at or below the middle. 
Fruit an obliquely acute, coriaceous follicle, more or less boat-shaped, the dorsal suture curved 
the ventral one nearly straight. 
Seed compressed, with a terminal oblique or falcate wing, sometimes decurrent along the margins 
Shrubs or trees. 
Leaves alternate, more or less petiolate, entire, toothed or rarely (in the same species) lobed. 
Flowers small in terminal or axillary spikes, sessile or nearly so, in pairs within each bract. 
Bracts concave, imbricate in the very young spike but falling off long before the flowers expand 
(B.F1. v, 410.) 
Botanical description. Species, 0. excelsa R.Br., Prot. Nov., 32. 
A handsome tree of 40 to 60 feet, usually quite glabrous. 
Leaves on the flowering branches lanceolate, obtuse or acute, tapering into a rather long petiole, 
entire or slightly toothed, 4 to 6 inches long (and longer), flat, reticulate, shining above, glaucous 
underneath ; those of the barren branches often larger, toothed or deeply divided into 3 or 5 
lanceolate toothed lobes. 
Spikes axillary, interrupted, shorter than the leaves, usually glabrous, the flowers in distant pairs. 
Bracts at first ovate acute, and imbricate, but falling off at a very early stage. 
Perianth glabrous, about 3 lines long. 
Filaments broad, attached to about the middle of the claws. 
Ovary glabrous ; style short. 
Follicle acuminate, about 1 inch long. 
Seed flat, the nucleus about 4 lines long, with a terminal wing at least as long. See also Meissner, 
in DC. Prod, xiv, 423. (B.F1. v, 411.) 
Var. fissifolia F.v.M. in Fragm. v., 153, with trifid or pinnatifid leaves, with the 
margin remotely serrate, cannot be separated from the normal form, leaves of all these 
shapes occurring on the same tree. The name cannot be retained. 
