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ONE HUNDRED-FOUKTH PAPER 

 CALIFORNIA LAUREL 



{Vmbelhdaria Cal 



This tree 's rauge lies in southern Oregon and in California. It 

 is a member of the laurel family and is closely related to the east- 

 ern sassafras and the red and the swamp bays of the southern 

 states; but it is not near kin to the eastern laurels which, strange 

 as it may appear, do not belong to the laurel family, notwith- 

 standing the names they bear. 



The people of California and Oregon have several names for 

 this interesting tree. It is known as mountain 'laurel, California 

 bay tree, myrtle tree, eajepiit, California olive, spice tree, laurel, 

 bay tree, oveodaphue, and California sassafras. 



Those who call it laurel name it on account of its large, lustrous, 

 thick leaves which adhere to the branches from two to six years. 

 All new leaves do not come at once, as with most trees, but appear 

 a few at a time during the whole summer. 



The names which connect this tree with sassafras, spice and 

 eajeput are based on odor and taste. All members of the laurel 



i/omica-Nutt) 



and the constaut appearance of young leaves on the lengthening 

 shoots. It can stand an almost unlimited amount of shade itself, 

 and is by no means backward in giving abundance of shade tu 

 small growth which is trying to struggle up to light from below. 

 It delights in dense thickets, but it prefers thickets of its own 

 species. 



Its fruiting habits and its disposition to pre-empt the damp, rich 

 soil along the banks of small water courses, are responsible for the 

 thick stands. The fruit itself is an interesting thing. It is yel- 

 lowish-green in color, as large as a good-sized olive, and looks mucli 

 like it. Each drupe contains one seed. The fruit ripens in October, 

 and falls in time to get the benefit of the autumn rains which visit 

 the Pacific coast. Since the trees generally grow along gulches, the 

 fruit falls and rolls to the bottom. The first dashing rain sends a 

 flood down the gulches, the laurel drupes are carried along and are 

 buried in mud wherever they can find a resting place. Germination 



r.VLIFORNIA LAUREL. MUIR WOODS, NEAR SAN FRANCISCO 



family in this country are characterized by pungent, aromatic odor 

 and taste, and the one under consideration shares these properties 

 in a remarkable degree. When the leaves and the green bark are 

 crushed, they give off a light, volatile. oil in follicles which float in 

 the air, like those of an onion, and when inhaled it produces severe 

 pain over the eyes, and may induce dizziness and violent sneezing. 

 Though the symptoms are alarming to one who is undergoing the 

 experience for the first time, no serious inconvenience follows. 

 Dried leaves are capable of producing a similar effect but with 

 less violence. The California laurel's close relationship to the 

 camphor tree is readily believed by persons who inhale some of the 

 oily spray from the crushed leave«. 



Attempts have been made to produce the commercial oil of 

 eajeput, or a substitute for it, by distilling the leaves and bark of 

 this laurel. A passable substitute has been manufactured, but it 

 cannot be marketed as the genuine article. By distilling the fruit 

 a product known as umbellulic acid has been obtained. 



The California laurel carries a very dense crown of leaves. This 

 is due partly to the old crops which hang so long, and to the tree's 

 habit of lengthening its leading shoots during the growing season, 



—20— 



takes place soon after. The fruit remains under the mud, attached 

 to the roots of the young plants, until the following summer. 



The result is that if a laurel gets a foothold in a gulch through 

 which water occasionally flows, lines of young laurels will eventu- 

 ally cover the banks of the gulch as far down stream as conditions 

 are favorable. 



The wood of California laurel weighs 40.60 pounds per cubic foot 

 when kiln-dried. That is nine pounds heavier than sassafras. It 

 is very heavy when green and sinks when placed in water. It is 

 hard and very firm, rich yellowish brown in color, often beautifully 

 mottled; but this applies to the heartwood only, and not to the 

 thick sapwood. 



Lumbermen have discovered tlial tlu- wood's color can be mate- 

 rially changed by immersing the logs when green, and leaving them 

 submerged a long time. The beautiful "black myrtle," which has 

 been so much admired, is nothing more than California laurel which 

 has undergone the cold water treatment. 



The annual rings of growth are clearly marked by dark bands of 

 sumnierwood. The rings are often wide, but not always, for some- 

 times the growth is very slow. The wood is diffuse porous, and 



