‖ Phillyrea Bot.
(fɪˈlɪriːə, fɪlɪˈriːə)
Also 7 phillyræa, phyl(l)area, phyleria, 7–8 phyllerea, philarea, 8 phyl(l)yrea, -ræa, phillarea, phyllirea, -ra, philyræa, -rea; also β. in anglicized forms: 7–8 philery, phillerey, (8 ffilleroy).
[Bot. L. phyllyrea (Tournefort; Linnæus Philos. Bot. 175), erroneously for philyrea, a. Gr. ϕιλυρέα (Theophr.), app. a deriv. of ϕιλύρα linden tree. There are many erroneous spellings in phyll- and phyl-. Also F. phillyrée (1572 in Godef.); cf. Cotgr. ‘phillyrée, mocke-priuet; a shrub’; thence the β-forms.]
A genus of ornamental evergreen shrubs (family Oleaceæ), natives of the Mediterranean region and the East, with opposite leaves and inconspicuous greenish-white flowers in axillary clusters; also called jasmine-box or mock privet. P. latifolia is considered to be the ϕιλυρέα of Dioscorides and Theophrastus.
Cape phillyrea, a name for the S. African shrub Cassine capensis (family Celastraceæ). (Treas. Bot. 1866.)
| 1664 Evelyn Sylva xxiv, All the Phillyreas are yet more hardy. 1678 Phillips (ed. 4), Philyræa, see Privet. 1691 J. Gibson in Archæol. XII. 188 In his garden he has four large round philareas, smooth clipped. 1699 M. Lister Journ. Paris 210 Lentiscus's and Phylarea's in as great abundance, as Hazel or Thorn with us. 1706 J. Gardiner tr. Rapin's Gardening ii. 89 Line The walls with Phylyrea fresh and fine. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 71 Cut box and ffilleroy and Lawrell. 1720 Strype Stow's Surv. (1754) I. i. xx. 112 Against the stone walls are planted Phillereys. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvi. (1794) 207 This shrub [Alaternus] is frequently confounded with Philyrea, from which it may be known at all times by the position of the leaves. 1866 Treas. Bot., Phillyrea, evergreen shrubs and trees introduced from the shores of the Mediterranean. |
| attrib. c 1665 Lady Mary Warwick in C. F. Smith Life (1901) 325 Upon the phyllerea hedge that grew before the great parlour door. 1683–4 Wood Life Jan.–Feb. (O.H.S.) III. 88 Frost..killed laurel, bayes, philery hedges. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physic (1762) 107 Gargle often with Phyllyrea leaves boiled with a little Allum. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1749) III. xvii. 100 The rushing of a little dog..through the phyllerea hedge. |