MOCK-PRIVET; a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the diandria class of plants. Each flower contains two males and one female. Some say there are seven species, all of them shrubby plants, and natives of France or Italy. Others reckon only three species, which are as follow:
1. *Phillyrea media*; the oval leaved phillyrea or mock privet, or the medial leaved phillyrea, a tall evergreen shrub, native of the south of Europe. 2. *Phillyrea latifolia*; the broad-leaved phillyrea or mock privet, a tall evergreen shrub, native of the south of Europe. 3. *Phillyrea angustifolia*; the narrow-leaved phillyrea or mock privet, a deciduous shrub, native of Spain and Italy.
The first has three varieties, viz. The first is the common smooth-leaved phillyrea. This plant grows to be 12 or 14 feet high, and the branches are very numerous. The older branches are covered with a dark brown bark, but the bark on the young shoots is of a fine green colour. They are oval, spear-shaped, and grow opposite, by pairs, on strong short footstalks.
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(n) "The Curetes sacrificed their children to Saturn; and from the similitude this name bears to Cherethites or Philistines, it has been advanced that they are the same people; but as we have no warrant for saying the Philistines practised so barbarous and unnatural a custom, we may venture to pronounce, that they learned it not from them, but borrowed it elsewhere." The flowers are produced in clusters from the wings of the young branches. They are small, and of a kind of greenish-white colour; they appear in March, and are succeeded by berries, which are first green, then red, and black in the autumn when ripe. The second variety is the privet-leaved phillyrea, which grows to be 10 or 12 feet high, and the branches of which are covered with a brown bark. The leaves a little resemble the privet; they are of a fine green colour, and grow by pairs on the branches. They are of a lanceolate figure, and their edges are entire, or nearly so; for some signs of serratures sometimes appear. The flowers grow like others in clusters in March. They are whitish, and are succeeded by small black berries.
The third variety, or the olive-leaved phillyrea, is the most beautiful of all the sorts. It will grow to be about 10 or 12 feet high; and the branches, which are not numerous, spread abroad in a free easy manner, which may not improperly be said to give the tree a fine air. They are long and slender, and are covered with a light brown bark; and on these the leaves stand opposite by pairs at proper intervals on short footstalks. They resemble those of the olive-tree, and are of so delightful a green as to force esteem. Their surface is exceeding smooth, their edges are entire, and the membrane of a thickish consistence. The flowers are small and white, and like the other sorts make no show. They are succeeded by single roundish berries.
2. The broad-leaved phillyrea will grow to be about 12 feet high. The branches seem to be produced stronger and more upright than those of the former species. The bark is of a grey colour, spotted with white, which has a pretty effect; and the leaves grow opposite by pairs. They are of a heart-shaped oval figure, of a thick consistence, and a strong dark-green colour. Their edges are sharply serrated, and they stand on short strong footstalks. The flowers grow from the wings of the leaves in clusters in March. They are of a kind of greenish-white colour, make no show, and are succeeded by small round black berries. There are also three varieties of this species, viz. the ilex-leaved phillyrea, the prickly phillyrea, and the olive phillyrea with slightly serrated edges.
3. The narrow-leaved phillyrea is of lower growth, seldom rising higher than 8 or 10 feet. The branches are few and slender, and they also are beautifully spotted with grey spots. The leaves, like the others, stand opposite by pairs. They are long and narrow, spear-shaped, and undivided, of a deep green colour, and of a thick consistence. Their edges are entire, and they also stand on short footstalks. The flowers, like the others, make no show. They are whitish, and grow in clusters from the wings of the branches, in March; and are succeeded by small round black berries. The varieties of this species are, the rosemary phillyrea, lavender phillyrea, striped phillyrea, &c.
This vegetable is to be propagated by seeds or layers. 1. By seeds. These ripen in the autumn, and should be sown soon after. The mould must be made fine; and if it is not naturally sandy, if some drift sand be added, it will be so much the better. The seeds for the most part remain until the second spring before they come up; and if they are not sown soon after they are ripe, some will come up even the third spring after. They must be sown about an inch deep; and during the following summer should be kept clean from weeds. After they are come up, the same care must be observed, and also watering in dry weather; and if the beds are hooped, and the plants shaded in the hottest season, they will be so much the better for it. However, at the approach of winter they must be hooped, and the beds covered with mats in the hardest frosts, otherwise there will be danger of losing the whole crop; for these trees, though they are very hardy when grown tolerably large, are rather tender whilst seedlings. It will be proper to let them remain in the seed-beds with this management for two summers; and then waiting for the first autumnal rains, whether in September or October (and having prepared a spot of ground), they should at that juncture be planted out, and this will occasion them immediately to strike root. The distance they should be planted from each other need not be more than a foot, if they are not designed to remain long in the nursery. If there is a probability of their not being wanted for some years, they should be allowed near double that distance; and every winter the ground in the rows should be well dug, to break their roots, and cause them to put out fresh fibres, otherwise they will be in danger of being lost when brought into the shrubbery quarters.
2. By layers they will easily grow. The autumn is the best time for this operation, and the young shoots are fit for the purpose. The best way of layering them is by making a slit at the joint; though they will often grow well by a twist being only made. When the gardener chooses the method of twisting a young branch for the layers, he must be careful to twist it about a joint so as only to break the bark; for if it is too much twisted, it will die from that time, and his expectations wholly vanish. But if it be gently twisted with art and care, it will at the twisted parts be preparing to strike root, and by the autumn following, as well as those layers that had been slit, will have good roots; the strongest of which will be fit for planting where they are wanted to remain, whilst the weaker and worst-rooted layers may be planted in the nursery-ground like the seedlings, and treated accordingly.