Tr^, LAUBUS NOBILIS. 



2. L N. PARVIFOLIA. S/nu//-/tfivi(l\oh/cljiiiin/; fjiiitrier II /iififcs fiii//es, o( 

 the French, iiuligrnous to the Caribbce Islands, where its leaves are us(k1 for sea- 

 soning food. 



3. 1j. n. sAMfiFoiiA, lioudon. WiUoir-Ienrcd Nohic Tjdiitfl^ a shrnh six or eight 

 feet high, with long, narrow leaves, not so thick as those of the species, and of a 

 lighter screen. 



1. li. N. UNDULATA, Loudon. Uuduhitcd-leaved Noble Lawcl^ a low slirnb, sel- 

 dom growitig higher than from four to six feet, with leaves waved on the edges, 

 and is said to be more hardy than the species. 



5. L. N. CRisPA, Loudon. CrUped-leavcd Noble Laurel^ with leaves somewhat 

 curled. 



6. L. N. VARiEGATA, Loudon. Vttrirrrdfcd-leavp.fJ Noble Laurel. 



7. L. N. FLORE PLENo, Loudoti. Doubh-jlowercd Noble Laurel. 



Geography and History. The Laurus nobilis is a native of the south of 

 Europe, and northern Africa; and, according to St. Pierre, remarkably fine trees 

 of it were found on the banks of the river Peneus, in Thcssaly, which, probably 

 might have given rise to the fable of the nymph Daphne, (supposing the (J reek 

 daphne to be this tree,) tiie daughter of that river. 



The exact date of the introduction of this species into Britain is unknown, but 

 it must have been previous to 1.5(V2, as it is mentioned by Turner, in his " Her- 

 bal," published in that year; and we find that, in the reign of Elizabeth, the 

 floors of the houses of distinguished persons were strewed with its leaves. 



The largest recorded tree of this species in Britain, is at Margram, in Glamor- 

 ganshire, on the seat of C. P. Talbot, M. P., about twelve miles from Swansea. It 

 is upwards of sixty feet in height, with a magnificent bell-shaped summit, about 

 sixty feet in diameter. 



At Cypress grove, near Dublin, in Ireland, there is a laurel fifty feet in height, 

 with a trunk two feet in diameter, and an ambitus or spread of branches of 

 twenty-five feet. 



Throughout Germany, the Laurus nobilis is a green-house plant. In Russia, 

 in the Crimea, it requires protection during winter. 



In Italy and Spain, it attains a larger size than in any other part of Europe, 

 forming immense bushes from fifty to seventy feet in height. 



In the northern parts of the United States, it is only cultivated as a green- 

 house plant ; but in the southern sections of the union, where the climate is 

 more mild, it grows in great perfection in the open air. 



Mythological and Legendary Allusions. This tree is celebrated in mythology, 

 as having once been Daphne, the daughter of Peneus, who, flying from the embraces 

 of Apollo, and reaching the banks of her parent stream, called on the river god for 

 protection, was changed into a laurel. In the age of Roman greatness, this tree 

 was considered as the emblem of victory, and also of clemency. The victorious 

 generals were crowned with it in their triumphal processions; every common 

 soldier carried a sprig of it in his hand, and even the dispatches announcing a 

 victory were wrapped up in, and ornamented with, its leaves. The aromatic 

 odour of this tree was supposed by the ancient Romans to have the power of dis- 

 pelling contagion ; and, during a pestilence, the Emperor Claudius removed his 

 court to Laurentum, so called from the bay-trees which grew within its walls. 

 Tlieophrastus tells us that the superstitious Greeks would keep a bay leaf in their 

 mouths all day, to preserve themselves from misfortunes. The Greeks, also, had 

 diviners who were called Daphnephagi^ because they chewed laurel leaves, 

 which they pretended inspired them with the spirit of prophecy. The laurel 

 was dedicated to Apollo, and the first temple raised to that god at Delphi, was 

 formed of the branches of this tree. It was the favourite tree of the poets; and 

 we are told that Maia, the mother of Virgil, dreamed that she was delivered of 8 



