LAURACEAE 



California-laurel. Oregon-myrtle 



Umbellularia californica (Hook, and Arn.) Nutt. 



HABIT. A small to medium-sized tree 20-80 feet high and 

 1-3 feet in diameter (max. 175 by 12 feet); broad, rounded, 

 dense crown; trunk often divided; shrubby on dry sites. 



LEAVES. Alternate; simple; lanceolate to elliptical; 2-5 

 inches long; thick and leathery; entire; glabrous; persistent 

 2-6 years; spicy-scented; dark green and lustrous above, paler 

 and dull below. 



FLOWERS. Perfect; small; in umbels; appearing before the 

 new leaves; calyx yellow-green, 6-parted; corolla absent. 



FRUIT. An olive-like, acrid, yellow-green drupe about 1 

 inch in diameter; maturing in 1 year; surrounded at base by 

 enlarged lobes of calyx; seed ovoid, light brown. 



TWIGS. Slender; yellow-green; glabrous; aromatic. Winter 

 buds: terminal present, minute, naked. 



BARK. Rather thin; dark brown; with tight scales; smooth 

 and gray-green on branches. 



WOOD. Rather hard and heavy; diffuse-porous; fine tex- 

 tured; lustrous light brown; expensive and highly valued for 

 furniture, finish and novelties; sold under the name of myrtle 

 wood. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Moderately tolerant; deep, 

 wide-spreading, fleshy roots; on varied sites, but best growth 

 on moist bottomlands; a monotypic genus. 



* * * 



ANNONACEAE 



Pawpaw 



Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal 



This distinctive shrub or small tree is found scattered through- 

 out the eastern United States. It is characterized by a banana- 

 like fruit, which is a cylindric, yellow-green, edible berry 3-5 

 inches long and containing numerous seeds about 1 inch long; 

 simple, alternate, deciduous, entire, membranaceous leaves 

 10-12 inches long and 4-6 inches wide; large, perfect flowers 

 with 3 sepals and 6 petals; slender, glabrous twigs with small, 

 red-woolly, naked buds; and thin, dark brown bark, contain- 

 ing whitish blotches and wartlike protuberances. 



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