halleria

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of shrubs, of the natural order Scrophulariaceæ, having opposite leaves, a cup-shaped calyx, short-lobed red corolla, exserted stamens, and an indehiscent berry-like fruit. It embraces 8 species, natives of South Africa, Madagascar, and Abyssinia. One of these, H. lucida, of the Cape of Good Hope, is known as the white olive or African fly-honeysuckle. It is an evergreen shrub, 12 to 14 feet in height and 6 to 8 inches in diameter. The wood is fine-grained, hard, and tough, and is used for wagon-tongues, planes, screws, joiners' benches, etc.