Order Xcix
OLEINE.
The olives are known by their monopetalous corolla, with a valvular æstivation, two stamens alternate with the segments, a bilocular ovarium with no discus at the base, and pendulous collateral ovula. They were formerly combined with the jasmines. They have all simple opposite leaves; their flowers are either white, yellow, or purple, and frequently fragrant. The Phillyréas are among our finest evergreens, and the Lilac or Syringa perhaps at the head of hardy deciduous bushes. The ash is an anomalous genus which hardly belongs to the order. The seed of the olive contains so large a proportion of fixed oil, that it has long been one of the most important objects of cultivation in the South of Europe. The bark and leaves of many Oleinæ are bitter and astringent; these properties are particularly apparent in the ash, which has often been employed successfully as a febrifuge. From the exudation of many species of that genus, the mild purgative called manna is formed; it is most commonly found upon the O'rnus. M. Decandolle remarks, that in proof of the natural affinity of the plants here combined, and of the propriety of separating the jasmines from them, it has been found that all the olives as now restricted, will bud or graft upon one another, but not on the jasmines. Thus the lilac will graft on the ash, the Chionanthus, and the Fontanésia, and even upon Phillyréa latifólia, and the olive will take upon the Phillyréa, and even on the ash. 32 O'lea W. 33 Phillyréa 35 Notelæ'a B. P. 34 Chionánthus W. 36 Ligústrum W. 37 Syrínga W. 67 Linociéra B. P. 66 Fontanésia W. 69 O'rnus P. S. 2157 Fraxinus W.