e l m 
E L 7E 
fhorter than the calyx: ftigma Ample. Pericavpium: 
drupe ovate, obtufe, fmooth, with a ddtted tip. Seed : 
itot oblong, obtufe .—Effcntial Charaftcr. Corolla, none ; 
calyx, four-cleft, bell-form, fuperior; drupe below the 
calyx. 
Species, i. Elseagnus augufiifolia, or narrow-leaved 
©leader: leaves lanceolate. A tree branching from the 
bottom, growing fometimes to -the height of three fa¬ 
thoms, with a trunk the thicknefs of a man’s arm or 
thigh, elegant in its appearance, efpecially from the fil- 
very brightnefs of the leaves. Bark fmooth, brovyn ; 
wood pale, prettily veined with grey and brown, but not 
hard; branches and branchlets flender, frequent, alter¬ 
nate, fmooth, unarmed, or having thorns, efpecially in 
young trees; leaves petioied, in the more northern parts 
lanceolate, in the more fouthern broader, rather obtufe, 
and' larger ; lilvery white underneath, on their upper fur- 
face hoary-grenifh, and Paining very much. The flowers 
come out at the middle leaves of the (mailer branches, 
ufually folitary or two together, fometimes, but very fel- 
dom, three from each axil, in which cafe one or two are 
on fliorter peduncles and barren, having no germ, though 
they have a flyle and anthers. The diviftons of the ca¬ 
lyx (or corolla) are four, very feldom five, never more 
in the wiid plant, (others fay from four to eight:) the 
anthers are placed at the bafe of thefe, on very fiiort 
filaments; ftyle the- length of the calyx ; drupe’alvvays 
folitary, oblong, hoary-white when young, thicker and 
yellowi(h when ripe, inclofing within a fw-eet pulp a 
woody, grey, furrowed, nut. In the delerts, near the 
Volga, the fruit is hardly bigger titan the berries of tire 
barberry ; whereas, in the more fouthern parts, it is the 
fize of the cornelian cherry. Native of the fouth of Eu¬ 
rope, the Levant, near the Cafpian fea, in the deferts 
near the Volga, and the farther Tartarian defert, and 
other parts of the Ruffian empire in Alia-. It flowers 
there in May. It was cultivated by Parkinfon in 1633. 
Mr. Miller diftinguifhes fpecifically the thorny and 
unarmed narrow-leaved oleafier. The latter, he lays, is 
that which is moll-commonly preferveci in the Engli(h 
gardens. The leavesare more than four inches long, arid 
not half an inch broad; they are very fofr, and have a 
filming appearance like fatin. The flowers come out at 
the footflalks of the leaves, fingly, or two, and frequently 
three, at the fame place; the outfide of the calyx is lil- 
very and (Lidded, the inlide of a. pale yellow ; it lias a 
very ftrong feent. The flowers appear in July, and 
fometimes are fuceeeded by fruit. The efpinofa, or 
thorny elasagnus, lie takes to be the common fort, which 
grows naturally in Bohemia, and of which he faw fome 
trees in the curious garden of the famous Boerhaave, 
near Leyden. 1 lie leaves of this are not more than two 
inches long, and about three quarters of an inch broad in 
the middle ; they are white, and have a foft cottony down 
on their furface ; at the footftafK of every leaf comes out 
a pretty long fliarp thorn, the leaves being alternate, the 
fpines come out on each fide of the branches. The flowers 
are fmall, and have a ftrong feent when fully open. They 
were botli obferved by Tournefort in the T.e-v'ant. 
2. Elasagnus orientalis, or oriental deader: leaves ob¬ 
long, ovate, opake. This has the appearance.of the fore¬ 
going, but the leaves are twice as broad, ovate-oblongifli, 
foft to the touch on both fides, pale underneath, but nei¬ 
ther furface Ihining or filvery. In ftature and manner of 
growth this tree refembles a middle-fized willow, as it 
does alfo in the hoarinefs of its leaves and the divifion of 
its branches. In the wild fpecimens from Perfia, (harp 
ftraight thorns are fcattered varioufly over the branches; 
on the fmaller twigs they are hoary all over and bear 
leaves ; whereas the cultivated trees have no thorns. 
Flowers alternate, peduncled, folitary, extremely fra¬ 
grant; calyx funnel-form, hoary on the outfide, the di- 
vilions become reflex by age, and a^e obfeurely yellowiih 
within. This and the fpinofa of Linnaeus do no feem to 
differ any otherwife than a garden tree does from a wild 
Vgl. VI. No, 359. 
397 
one or the thorny variety of the foregoing fpeeies from 
the unarmed. Native of the mountains of Perfia from. 
Caucafus to Derbent, about the Cafpian fea abundantly, 
and of the Levant. 
3. Elseagnus latifolia, or broad-leaved deader: leaves 
ovate. This rifes with a woody dent to the height of 
eight or nine feet, dividing into many branches. Leaves 
filvery, with feveral irregular dark-coloured fpots ; they 
are alternate, and continue all the year. Native of the 
Lad Indies and China. Mr. Miller fays, that it is rare 
at prefent in the LUglidi gardens; but that there were fe¬ 
veral large plants of it in the royal garden at Hampton- 
court, fome of which produced flowers. 
4. Eilaeagnus crifpa, or curled-leaved deader: lea*, es 
lanceolate-oblong, obtufe, waved; flowers folitary. 5. 
Elaeagnus multifl.cra, or many-flowered deader : leaves 
obovate, obtufe ; flowers axillary, aggregate; peduncles 
longer than the flower. 6. Elasagnus umbel.lata, or um- 
belled deader : leaves obovate, obtufe ; flowers axillary, 
aggregate ; peduncles (horter than the flower. 7. Elas¬ 
agnus glabra, or fmooth-leoved deader: leaves ovate- 
oblong, acuminate-; flowers axillary, fubfolitary. S. 
Elaeagnus macrophylla, or filvet'-leaved deader : leaves 
rounded-ovate, filvery. 9. Elaeagnus pungens, or prickly 
deader : branchlets becoming thorns; leavds oblong, 
waved ; flowers axillary, in pairs. Thefe fix ipecies are 
natives of Japan. 
Propagation and Culture. The fird fort is extremely 
hardy, and is not injured by frod ; it is not, however, of 
very long duration ; young plants, therefore, dionld be 
raifed once in three or four years, by feeds or layers. 
The fecond requires the protection of a greenhoufe. 
The tliird fort requires a warm dove to preferve it in this 
country ; for it is toQ tender to live in the open air, ex¬ 
cept for a fliort time in the warmed: part of the furamer. 
It may be raifed from feeds. The other fpeeies have not 
yet been introduced into cultivation in Europe. 
ELyE'GRUS. See El^agnu.s. 
EL 7 ETS, f. [fo named by Jacquin, from c’ha.ia, the 
dive, on account of the oilinefs of the nuts.] In botany, 
a genus of pal mas ; dioecia hexandria, ( T/tunb .) of the 
natural order of palms. The generic characters are— 
I. Male. Calyx: perianthium lix-leaved; leaflets con¬ 
cave, upright. Corolla: one-petailed, lix-clefr, upright, 
fliarp, length of the calyx. Stamina: filaments fix, fiubu- 
late, length.- of the corolla ; anthene oblong, fliarp. Ii. 
Female. Calyx : as in the male, (nine-leaved, with the 
inner leaflets longer, Gartner.) Corolla : fix-petalled, 
(none, unlefs a part of the calyx be conlidered as fuch, G ) 
Pidillum : germ ovate, (three-celled, G .) ftyle thickifii, 
(three-cornered, G.) Itigmas three, reflex. Pericarpium : 
drupe fibrous, ovate, ibrnewhat angulatcd, oily, (fupe- 
rior, berried, one-celled, G.) Seed; nut ovate, obfeurely 
three-fided with three holes, three-valved, (valvelefs, G.) 
one-celled.— EJfential Char after. Male. Calyx, lix-leaved ; 
corolla fix-cleft; flamina, fix. Female. Calyx, fix-leaved, 
(nine-leaved, with the inner leaflets longer, C.) Corolla, 
fix-petalled, (none, G.) fligmas three; drupe fibrous; 
nut one to three-valved, (valvelefs, G.) 
Elteis guineenfis, a fingle fpeeies. It is the palma deofa 
of Miller. Trunk ereCf, irregular from the ftipes of the 
fronds, which continue a long time, and are longer the 
nearer they are to the frond. Fronds pinnate, with a 
rigid rib (or rachjs) fifteen feet in length, for four feet 
below the leaflets armed at the edge on both fides with 
awl-fbaped fpines, the uppermoft hooked and bowed 
back, the middle ones ftraight, the loweft patulous, and 
twice as long as the reft;" leaflets fword-ftraped, acute, 
unarmed, folded back at the bafe, a foot and a half long, 
and an inch broad. After thefe have fallen, the rigid rib 
remains lonte time, and refembles a fpine. Spadix axil¬ 
lary, a foot long, much compreffed, erect, divided into, 
about fifty branchlets, five inches long, erect, the thick- 
r.efs of a finger, compactly fpiked, imbricate, and irre¬ 
gularly difpofed, with triangular acuminate tips. The 
S I branchlets, 
