160 Class IX. Order I. 



ENNEANDRIA. 

 MOJVOGYJVM. 



166. LAURUS. 



Subgenus EUOSMUS. Polygamous or dicecious. Six 

 corpuscles instead of the nectary. 



LAURUS BENZOIN. L. Fever Bush. Spice Wood. 



Leaves obovate, entire, annual ; flowers dioecious. 



Syn. LAURUS PSEUDO-BENZOIN. Mich. 



An aromatic shrub with a flavour resembling Benzoin. Early 

 in May, before the leaves are fully expanded, it puts forth small 

 sessile umbels of pale greenish flowers. Calyx of six oblong 

 segments. Stamens nine, six exterior and three interior, sepa- 

 rated by six short clavate bodies resembling the filaments with- 

 out anthers. The leaves are oval or inversely ov-te, acute at 

 base, slightly acuminate, nearly smooth, pale underneath, and 

 somewhat pubescent. Berries red. It grows in low situations 

 at Brighton and elsewhere, but it is not very common in the en- 

 virons of Boston. 



LAURUS SASSAFRAS. L. Sassafras Tree. 



Leaves deciduous, entire, and lobed ; flowers di- 

 recious. Mich. 



In favourable situations the Sassafras rises into a pretty large 

 tree. The bark of the young twigs is smooth and green. The 

 leaves are partly oval, and partly in two or three large lobes, en- 

 tire on their margin, and downy underneath. The oval ones 

 appear first. Flowers greenish yellow, appearing in May and 

 June in clusters at the end of the last j^ear's shoots, Brac- 

 tes linear, pubescent. Petals oblong, obtuse. Stamens in 

 the perfect flowers six. Style much longer than the stamens. 

 Germ globular. The barren flowers are more umbelled with 

 longer stamens, six exterior and three interior, with six glandu- 

 lar corpuscles at base. Fruit oval, blue, on fleshy incrassated 

 stalks. 



The whole of the Sassafras tree has a strong, spicy flavour, 



