Eloeagnaceoe
Very ornamental, deciduous or evergreen shrubs or small trees. Flowers axillary, clustered or solitary; perianth campanulate or salver-shaped. Leaves simple, alternate. They grow freely in any ordinary soil that is tolerably dry, and may be readily increased by seeds, layers or cuttings.
E. argentea (silvery). fl. yellow, agregate, nodding, axillary. July, August. fr. roundish-ovate, covered with silvery scales, ribbed. l. waved, oval-oblong, rather acute, glabrous on both surfaces, and covered with silvery scales. h. 8ft. to 12ft. North America, 1813. (W. D. B. ii. 161.) E. crispa (curled). A synonym of E. longipes.
E. glabra (glabrous). fl. whitish, sub-solitary in the axils of the leaves. Autumn. l. ovate-oblong, acuminate, evergreen; adult ones green above, clothed below with rusty-coloured scales. h. 3ft. to 6ft. Japan. There are very pretty variegated forms of this species.
E. hortensis (garden).* fl. yellow within, scaly without, solitary, or three or four together, fragrant. May. l. lanceolate, hoary all over with stellate hairs, 2in. to 3in. long. Branches brown and smooth, more or less spiny. h. 15ft. to 20ft. Orient, naturalised in South Europe, 1633. A handsome deciduous tree. (S. F. G. 152.) E. h. angustifolia (narrow-leaved) only differs from the type in its narrower leaves. (B. R. 1156.) E. longipcs (long-stalked).* fr. orange, studded with small ferruginous scales, long-stalked, transparent, and produced in clusters. l. green above, silvery-white beneath. h. 3ft. Japan, 1873. A very desirable spreading, evergreen shrub, with deep reddish-brown twigs. SYN. E. crispa. (G. C. 1873, 1014.) E. macrophylla (large-leaved).* fl. greenish-yellow, clustered. Autumn. l. roundish-ovate, large, smooth, green above, covered below with bright silvery scales. h. 6ft. Japan. An unarmed bush.
E. pungens (stinging).* fl. yellowish, one or two together. l. oblong, entire, undulate, smooth, green above, silvery beneath. h. 6ft. Japan. A spiny shrub. There are very handsome variegated forms of this species. ELAEIS (from Elaia, the Olive; oil expressed from the fruit as from olives). Oil Palm. ORD. Palmae. A very small genus of stove palms. Fruit bright red, in large, somewhat obovate heads. Leaves pinnatisect, with strong prickly stalks. They form excellent decorative plants when in a young state, and thrive well in a rich sandy soil. Increased by seeds.
E. guineensis (Guinea). Stem erect, 20ft. to 30ft. high, terminated by a fine crown of pinnate dark green leaves, of about 15ft. in length. Guinea, 1730. This species yields the celebrated palm oil of commerce. (G. C. n. s., vii. 373.) E. melanococa (black-seeded). This closely resembles the fore-going, but is smaller, with a somewhat decumbent habit, emitting roots from lower side of prostrate stem. Tropical America, 1821.
ELAEOCARPUS (from Elaia, an Olive, and karpos, a fruit; fruit round, containing a nut furnished with rugosities). Including Monocera. ORD. Tiliaceae. Very handsome stove or greenhouse evergreen trees or shrubs. Flowers small, in racemes, usually fragrant; petals five, either toothed or beautifully fringed. Leaves alternate, or rarely opposite, entire or serrate. They thrive well in a mixture of loam and peat. Increased by cuttings, made of the ripened shoots, with leaves intact, and placed in a sandy soil, in bottom heat; or by seeds, sown in a hotbed.
E. cyaneus (blue). fl. white; racemes axillary, close-flowered. July. Drupe somewhat globose, blue. l. oblong-lanceolate, serrated, netted with veins. h. 15ft. Australia, 1803. Greenhouse. (B. M. 1737.) E. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl., racemes few, two, four, or five-flowered, generally one or two among the terminal clusters of leaves, drooping; calyx of five narrow, almost linear-lanceolate sepals, quite red externally, white within; petals five, spreading, white or pale yellow, cuneate, more or less silky, especially externally; the apex laciniated; pedicels red, much longer than the petioles. Summer. l. from 3in. to nearly 6in. long, including the petiole, broad-lanceolate, tapering into a footstalk, a good deal clustered at the apices of the branches; apex generally obtuse; margin entire, or usually more or less crenato-serrated or sinuated. h. 7ft. Java, 1852. An extremely handsome stove plant. SYN. Monocera grandiflora. (B. M. 4680.) E. serratus (serrate). fl. white, but purplish before opening, sweet-scented; racemes axillary or lateral, drooping. March to October. Drupe globose. l. with glands in the axils of the veins beneath, elliptic-oblong, serrated, acuminated. h. 50ft. East Indies, 1774. Stove.
ELAEODENDRON (from Elaia, an olive, and dendron, a tree; the fruit is like that of an Olive, and the seeds are oily). Olive-wood. Including Portenschlagia. ORD. Celastrineae. This genus, which embraces about thirty species of ornamental stove or greenhouse trees or shrubs, is represented in all tropical countries; the majority, however, grow in Africa and India. Flowers small, in axillary fascicles. Leaves small, Laurel-like, opposite. For culture, see Elaeocarpus.
E. capense (Cape).* fl. green, inconspicuous; corymbs axillary, dichotomous, a single flower standing in the fork, and the branches supporting three flowers each; bracts lanceolate, opposite, resembling much diminished leaves. fr. yellow, oval, about the size of a Hazel-nut, fleshy, and containing a hard nut with one to three cells. l. petiolate, sub-opposite, lanceolate-elliptical, the sides somewhat unequal, coriaceous, distantly spinuloso-serrulate, slightly revolute in the edges, dark green above, paler below, and often becoming rusty. Branches spreading, pendulous. h. 18ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1828. a handsome greenhouse decorative plant, when laden with its showy yellow fruits. (B. M. 3035.) E. glaucum (milky-green). fl. greenish-yellow, small; panicles axillary; cymes loose, nearly the length of the leaves. l. acute, or acuminate, crenate or nearly entire, membranous or subcoriaceous. h. 6ft. India, &c., 1824. Stove evergreen.
E. xylocarpum (woody-fruited). fl. greenish-yellow; cymes dichotomous, one-half shorter than the leaves. l. obovate-oblong, entire or somewhat scalloped, glaucous, on very short petioles. h. 4ft. Island of St. Thomas, 1816. Stove evergreen.
ELETTARIA (Elettari is the native name of the plant in Malabar). ORD. Scitamineae. A genus of stove plants, having much the appearance of Amomum, natives of the tropical parts of India. There are only two species, and, according to some authorities, these are but varieties of one. E. Cardamomum yields the Cardamoms of commerce. For culture, see Maranta. E. Cardamomum (Cardamom). fl. pale greenish-white, alternate, short-stalked, in short racemes from the axils of the large bracts of the long-jointed flexuous flower-stems; calyx tubular, three-toothed, finely striated; corolla tube as long as the calyx; limb double, exterior portion of three oblong, concave, nearly equal division; inner lip obovate, longer than the exterior division, curled at the margins; apex three-lobed, marked in the centre with purple-violet stripes. l. lanceolate, acuminate, sub-sessile, entire, 1ft. to 2ft. long. Stem erect, jointed, enveloped in the sheaths of the leaves. h. 6ft. to 9ft. Hilly parts of Travancore and Malabar. (B. M. Pl. 267.)