152 LAUREL FAMILY 



LAUREL FAMILY (Lauraceae) 



A leafless, yellowish, parasitic, twining vine. 



Also: 



Trees. Leaves evergreen, alternate, entire, aromatic. Flowers 



small, 6-parted, corolla none. Fruit a small l-seeded drupe. 



Dodder-Laurel. Woe- Vine (Cassytha filiformis) 



This aberrant laurel and the common dodders of the 

 morning glory family are noted examples of similarity 

 of habit associated with similarity of form, for, although 

 belonging to different families of plants, they are so 

 alike in general appearance that only a student of botany 

 would note their points of difference. The young seedlings 

 of both attach themselves to other plants and, severing 

 their owtl connection with the earth, live as parasites on 

 their unfortunate hosts. Leafless, or practically so, their 

 slender stems of unpleasant yellowish green or yellow 

 twine on grasses, herbs, and shrubs. 



The dodder-laurel, or laurel-dodder, is conspicuous in 

 the southern part of the peninsula, especially towards 

 the coast, where it often covers shrubs like a shroud, 

 and hangs in tangled masses from the branches. The 

 flowers are minute. The somewhat pulpy fruit contains 

 one seed. 



The other dodders {Cuscuta) are related to the morn- 

 ing glories, but the Cassytha is thought to be a black 

 sheep of the laurel family, and therefore allied to the 

 noted bay tree of southern Europe — the laurel of tra- 

 dition and song. 



Red Bay. Swamp Bay (Genus Persea (Tamala)) 



Camphor, cinnamon, and avocadoes are noted exotic 

 trees of this family, which is chiefly represented in our 

 native flora by the red bays — trees with evergreen leaves 

 of characteristic aromatic flavor, small greenish flowers 



