Genus LAURUS, Plin 



Lauraceae. Eoneandria Monogynia. 



Syst. Nat, Syal. Lin. 



Synonymes, 

 Lauras, Persea, Borbonia, Of Authors. 



Derivation. The word Laurus is derived from the Latin laus, praise, in reference lo the ancient custom of crowning the 

 Roman conquerors with laurel, in the triumphal processions. 



Generic Characters. Sexes polygamous or dioecious. Calyx with 6 sepals. Stamens 9 ; 6 exterior, 3 

 interior, and each of them having a pair of gland-like bodies attached to its base. These have been 

 deemed imperfect stamens. Anthers adnate ; of 2 cells in most of the species, of 4 unequal ones in 

 the others ; each cell is closed by a vertical valve, that opens elastically, and often carries up the pol- 

 len in a mass. Fruit a carpel that is pulpy externally, and includes 1 seed. Cotyledons eccentrically 

 peltate, or, in other words, attached to the remainder of the embryo a little above the base line. Lou- 

 don, Arboretum. 



^HE genus Laurus has been divided by modern botanists, and sev- 

 eral genera formed out of it ; but, for the sake of brevity, and the 

 convenience of classification, we have retained the Linna^an names 

 in all the species which we have noticed. There are only three 

 perfectly hardy kinds, namely, Laurus nobilis, sassafras and ben- 

 zoin ; but there are several species that will live in the open air in 

 mild climates, or with little protection, which are well worthy of cultivation. 

 The Laurus benzoin, (spice bush,) is a beautiful deciduous shrub, a native from 

 Virginia to Canada, growing from three to twelve feet in height, and is readily 

 distinguished by its highly pungent and aromatic bark, which is regarded as a 

 stimulant and tonic, and is extensively used in the regions where it abounds, in 

 the cure of intermittent fevers; and hence, is sometimes called /erer bush. The 

 Laurus cinnamomum and cassia, which are natives of Ceylon, Malabar, Cochin- 

 China, Sumatra, &c., and which are cultivated in India, Mauritius, Jamaica, 

 Brazil, and other places, produce the cinnamon and cassia of commerce. What 

 are called cass/a buds., are not obtained from the Laurus cassia, but are the hexan- 

 gular, fleshy receptacles of the seeds of the true cinnamon-tree. Cassia bark 

 and buds are used for the same purposes as cinnamon bark, but they are consid- 

 ered as inferior in vahie, on account of containing a greater proportion of muci- 

 lage. From the present genus we also derive a portion of the camphor of com- 

 merce, which is the product of the Laurus camphora, hereafter considered. The 

 Laurus indica is indigenous to Madeira and the Canary Islands, the wood of 

 which is highly esteemed in cabinet-making. It can hardly be distinguished 

 from mahogany, except that it is somewhat less brown in its colour. Hence it 

 is imported into England under the name of Madeira ma/iog-any. 



To the same natural order belong the California bay-tree. (Drimophyllum pau- 

 ciflorum,) and the Californian unibellularia, (Umbelliilaria cahfornica.) both ele- 

 gant evergreen trees, natives of Upper Cahtbrnia, the former growing to a height 

 of twenty or thirty feet, and the latter from forty to one himdred and twenty feet, 

 with a trunk from two to four feet in diameter. Its foliage, according to ]\Ir. 

 Nuttall, gives out, when bruised, a most powerful camphorated odour, which, 

 from its pimgency, is capable of exciting sneezing. " The volatile oil," observes 

 the same writer, "obtained from some species of I.aurus (ound in the vast forests 

 between the Oronoko and the Pari me, is produced in great abundance by merely 

 making an incision into the bark with an axe, as deep as the liber or young wood 

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