318 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



cies were known to Linnaeus, all belonging to the genus Laurus, 

 but the family now contains more than four hundred species, 

 divided into more than thirty genera, of which the greater 

 part are natives of regions between the tropics ; some few are 

 found in the northern temperate zone ; and Massachusetts 

 is, in this country, very nearly their northern limit. All are 

 remarkable for their warm, stimulating, aromatic proper- 

 ties, owing, usually, to essential oils, which abound in their 

 bark and leaves. Several species, in different eastern lands, 

 yield the different sorts of cinnamon and cassia, the genuine 

 being the produce of varieties of the Cinnambmum zeylanicum. 

 Camphor is extracted from the roots of the Camphora officina- 

 rum, by boiling. It is also found, in ample or minute propor- 

 tion, in the wood of the trunk or root of many other species. 

 The delicious Avocado pear, the aguacate of the Spaniards, 

 often called by the English the Alligator pear, and said to be 

 worth a voyage from Europe to the West Indies to taste, is 

 produced by a tree of this family, the Persea gratissima. The 

 wood of many of the species, found in southeastern Asia, re- 

 tains the pleasant camphoretted odor many years, and is sought 

 for as the material for the finishing and furniture of oriental 

 dwellings ; as in beauty, hardness and durableness, it some- 

 times vies with mahogany. The sweet-wood timber of Jamaica, 

 and many valuable woods of South America are produced by 

 trees of this family. The botanical name is derived from the 

 only plant of the family indigenous to Europe, the bay tree, 

 Lauras nobllls, the laurel of the ancients, the emblem of victory 

 and of clemency, and sacred to their god Apollo. Victorious 

 generals were crowned with a wreath of bay leaves, an honor 

 which, in later times, has been transferred to distinguished 

 poets, thence called poets laureate. The name of baccalaureate 

 degree, that of bachelor of arts, seems to have had a similar 

 origin from bacca laurea, the laurel berry. 



The leaves are mostly entire, and usually coriaceous, smooth 

 and shining. The flower-cup is of one piece, with four or six 

 divisions arranged in two rows, and with a fleshy disk occupy- 

 ing its centre. The flowers are sometimes perfect; sometimes 

 fertile and sterile flowers are on different plants, or on the same. 



