fuftaining three or four fmall ydlovf flowers, which 

 have five oval concave petals, and eight ftatnina in 

 the male flowers, which are upon different plants from 

 the hermaphrodite Rowers, which have an oval ger- 

 men, that afterward becomes an oval berry, which, 

 when ripe, is blue, but thofe plants do not produce 



fruit in England. 



The eighth fort grows naturally in North America, 



In fwampy lands ; this riles with a Ihrubby branching 



A 



root ; fo that it is uncertain, whether one In three of 

 thefe layers do fucceed, which makes thefe plants 

 very fcarce in England at prefent. 

 The wood of this fhrub is frequendy ufed to make 

 tea, which is eftcemed a great antifcorbudc ; and in 

 Carolina they frequently give a decoction of the wood 

 and leaves in intermitting fevers ; but the flowers of 

 the flirub are gathered, and dried by the moil curious, 

 and are ufed for tea. 



ftalk eight or ten feet high, covered with a purple J The Benjam'in-trce, as it is falfly called, maybe pro- 

 bark. The leaves are placed oppofite, and are near I pagated in the fame manner as the SafTafras, by 

 two inches long and one broad, fmooth or) their up- I fowing of the berries : thefe generally lie long in the 



per fide, but are veined on their under, where they 

 are rough. This hath not as yet produced flowers 

 here, but the berries which were fent me from Ma- 



ground, fo that unlefs they are brought over in earth, 



in the fame way as before direfted, they often fail, or 



at leaft remain long in the ground ; but this is now 



ryland were red, and nearly the fize and fhapeof the j frequently propagated by layers in England, which 



common Bay-berry. 



The Camphire-tree grows naturally in Japan, and in J are chofen to make layers. 



put out roots pretty freely, when the young ihoots 



feveral parts of India, and alfo at the Cape of Good 



The eighth fort is 



Cl 



Ifo a native of the fame country 



Hope, where it rifes to a tree of middling flrature, di- | with the lafl:, and may be propagated by feeds in the 



vidinginto niany fmall branches, garniflied w^thoval 

 fpear-ihaped leaves, fmooth on their upper fide, hav- 

 ing three longitudinal veins which unite above the 

 bafe ; if thefe are bruifed, they emit a ftrong odour 

 of Camphire, as alfo the branches when broken. 

 Thefe are male and hermaphrodite on different trees ; 

 I have only ken thofe of the male, which has flowered 

 plentifully in England ; thefe were fmall, and com- 

 pofed of five concave yellow petals, very like thofe of 

 the Saffafras-tree, and were produced three or four 

 upon each foot-ftalk, in like manner. 

 The tenth fort was difcovered by the late Dr. Houf 



fame manner as thofe, and require the fame treat- 

 ment. This may alfo be propagated by layers, which 

 put out roots pretty freely; and as the fnrubs do not 

 produce feeds in England, fo this is the beft method 

 to propagate them. 



Thefe three forts will live in the open air in England^ 

 but the Saffafras is often injured by very feverc frofts, 

 efpecially if they are in an expofed fituation ; therefore 

 thefe plants fhould have a warm fi:uation and p. loofe 

 foil 



and in moilt ground this, and 



lib the eighth 



fort, will thrive much better than in a dry foil -, for 

 when they are planted on a hot gravelly foil, they fre- 



^ 



tounatLa Vera Cruz ^ this rifes with a woody ftalk to I quently die in fummer when the leafon proves dry. 



the height oftwenty feet, dividing into many branches, I They are all of them now much culdvatcd in Eng- 



which are covered with a gray rough bark ; at the ex- j land, to add to the variety of fhrubs, but they are not 



tremity of the branches are produced the foot-ftalks, I very ornamental plants ; though indeed the SafTafras 



which are unequal in length, but divide into feveral 



, fmaller, each fuftaining a clufl:er of fmall white 



;...flowers, v/hich are collected into a head or fmall um- 



' ; bel, having one general involucrum ; thefe are male 



. .and hermaphrodite on different trees. The herma- 



.phrodite flowers are fucceeded by oval berries, not 



quite fo large as thofe of the common Bay. The 



makes a good appearance in fummer, when it is fully 

 clothed with its krge leaves, which being of different 

 Ihapes, makes an agreeable variety, when intermixed 

 with fhrubs of the fame growth. 

 The Camphire-tree is very near a-kin to the Cinna- 

 mon-tree, from which it differs in the leaves, thofe 



of the Cinnamon-tree having three ribs^ runnin 



lon- 



leavcs of this tree are about two inches long arid one j gitudinally from the foot-ftalk to the point, where 

 broad, rounded at the top and entire, ftanding upon j they foon diminifli ; whereas the ribs of the leaves of 



very fhort foot-ftalks. 

 The Saffafras-tree is commonly propagated by the 

 berries, which are brought from America ; but thefe 

 betries generally lie in. the ground a whole year, and 

 fometimes two or three years before they grow, when 

 they are fown in the fpring •, therefore the fureft qie- 

 thod of obtaining the plants will be, to get the berries 



y - 



put into a tub of earth foon after they are ripe, and 



fent over in the earth ; and as foon as they arrive, to 

 fow the berries on a bed of light ground, putiing them 

 two inches in the earth; and if the fpring fhould 

 prove dry, the bed muft be frequently watered, and 

 fhaded from the great heat of the fun in tlie middle 



* . • 



< 



this tree are fmall, and extend toward the fides, and 

 have a fmooth fliining furface : they are both male 

 and hermaphrodite in different trees. - . 



In Europe this tree is propagated by layers, ^hich 

 are generally two years, and fometimes longer, before 

 they take root, fo that the plants are vciy fcarce ; and 

 as all thofe which I have feen flower are male trees, 

 fo there can be no hopes of procuring feeds from them 

 here : but if the berries of this, and alfo of the Cin- 

 namon-tree, were procured from the places of their 

 growth, and planted in tubs of earth, as hath been 

 dire6ted for the Saffafras-tree, there may be a num- 

 ber of thefe plants procured in England : and if they 



th 



of the day ; with this management many of the plants I were fent to the Britifli colonies in America, they 

 will come up the firfl: feafon, but as a great many of I might be there cultivated, fo as to become a public 

 the berries will lie in the ground till the next fpring, I advantage ; efpecially the Cinnamon-tree, which will 



fo the bed (hould not be difturbed, but wait until the 

 feafon after, to fee what' will come up. The firft win- 



grow as well in fome of our iflands in the Weft-Indies, 

 as it does in the native places of its growth, and in a 



ter after the plants come up, they fhould be protedled I few years the trees might be had in plenty ; for they 



from the froft, eJpecially in the autumn ; for the firft 

 early froft at that feafon is apt to pinch the fhoots of 

 thefe plants, which, when ypung, are tender and 

 full offap, fo will dp them more injury than the 

 levere froft of the winter -, for when the extreme part 



/propagate eafily by the berries, as the French expe- 

 rienced in their American iflands. The Portuejueze 



' brought fome of the Cinnamon-trees from the Eaft- 

 Indies, and planted them on the ifland of Princes, on 

 the coaft of Africa, where they now aboi>nd, having 



of the ftioots are killed, it greatly affefts the whole j fpread over a great part of the ifland -, there is alfo 



plant. ' .' .... * ^ ^' ' iv>r.j„:^_. _^T_:_i_ t 



When the plants have grown a year in the feed-bed, 

 they may be tranfplanted into a nurfery, where they 

 may ftand one or two years to get ftrength, and may 

 then be tranfplanted into the places where they are to 

 remain for good. 



There have been fome of thefe plants propagated by 

 layers, but thefe are commonly two, and fometimes 

 three years before they put out roots ; and if they are 

 not duly watered in dry weather^ they rarely take 



one tree now growing at the Madeiras, which I 

 have been informed is a nnale, fo never produces 



berries. -. .^ - -i ;. ^ v* ; - ' 



The Camphire-tree does not require any artificial heat 



in winter, fo that if they are placed in a warm dry" 



green-houfe they will thrive very well 



winter feafon they muft be fparingly watered, and in 



the fummer they ftiould be placed abroad in 4 warm 



fituation, where they may be defended from ftrong 



winds> and not too 'much expofed to the diradt rays 



During the 



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