30 



is remarkable for differing from the order in nothing whatever, except its very 

 peculiar habit. 



GEOGRAniY. Trees inhabiting the tropics of either hemisphere; in a 

 very few instances only, straggling to the northward in North America and 

 Europe. No genus is known to exist in any part of the continent of Africa, 

 except the paradoxical Cassytha. This is the more remarkable, as several 

 species of Laurus have been found both in Teneriffe and Madeira, and some 

 other genera exist in Madagascar, and in the Isles of France and Bourbon. 

 Brown, Congo, 464. 



Properties. It would be difficult to name another order at once so 

 important and uniform in its qualities as this, the species being universally 

 aromatic, warm, and stomachic. Cinnamon and Cassia are the produce of 

 various species; the most genuine are yielded by Laurus Cinnamomum and 

 L. Cassia; but L. Culilaban and Malabathrum can both be substituted for 

 these spices : the Cinnamon of the Isle of France is Laurus cupularis, that of 

 Peru is L. Quixos. The Cinnamon of Santa Fe is produced by Laurus 

 Cinnaniomoides. Humb. Cinch. For. 11 . Eng. ed. The Sassafras nuts of the 

 London shops are the fruit of the Laurus Pucheri of the Flora Peruviana. 

 Ibid. Camphor is yielded by Laurus Camphora and other species ; even 

 by the Cinnamon tree itself. The properties ^f all these are due to the 

 presence of a volatile oil ; but they also contain in many cases a fixed oil 

 which is supposed to constitute the principal part of the fruit of Persea gratis- 

 sima, so much esteemed in the West Indies under the name of the Avocado 

 Pear ; the same oil appears in the form of a greasy exudation in the fruit of Lit- 

 sea sebifera. A species of Laurus in Sumatra, called by Dr. Jack, Parthenoxy- 

 lon, yields an oil useful in rheumatic aflPections ; and an infusion of the roots is 

 drank as sassafras, the qualities of which it resembles. Ed, P. J. 6. 398. 

 The bark of Laurus Benzoin is highly aromatic, stimulant, and tonic, and is 

 extensively used in North America in intermittent fevers. The oil of the fruit 

 is said to be stimulant. Barton, 2. 95. A plant of this family found in the 

 forests of Spanish Guiana yields a volatile oil, with a warm and pungent taste 

 and aromatic smell. It is employed externally as a discutient, and inter- 

 nally as a diaphoretic, diuretic, and resolvent. Ed. P. J. 12. 417. The 

 volatile oil obtained from some species of Laurus found in vast forests 

 between the Oronoko and the Parime, is produced in great abundance by 

 merely making an incision into the bark with an axe, as deep as the liber. 

 It gushes out in such quantity, that several quarts may be obtained by a 

 single incision. It has the reputation of being a powerful discutient. For 

 further information, see Brewster's Journal, 1. 134. In addition to these 

 qualities, there is present in some species an acrid, red, or violet juice, like 

 that found in Myristiceae ; it is particularly abundant in L. parvifolia, globosa, 

 foetens, and caustica. 



Examples. Laurus, Cinnamomum, Tetranthus, Cassytha. 



XXII. BERBERIDEiE. The Berberry Tribe. 



Berbehideje, Vent. Tail. 3. 83. (1790); Dec.Syst. 2. 1. (1821); Prodr. 1. 105. (1824); 

 Lindl. Synops. 14. (1829.) 



Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with hypogynous stamens equal 

 in number to the petals and opposite them, anthers opening by recurved 

 valves, and a single simple carpellum. 



Anomalies. 



