BOTANY. 107 



solid volatile oil, sublimed from the distillation of the Avood of Campliora 

 oflficinanira, a native of China and Japan. The cinnamon of connnerce is 

 the dried, inner bark from the young twi^s of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, 

 indigenous in Ceylon. The ripe fruit yields an oil, known as cinnamon 

 suet, and camphor is distilled from the roots. Cassia bark and buds are 

 furnished by C. cassia. The Avocado, or the alligator's pear, is the fruit 

 of Persea gratissima. Bebeeru-bark is obtained from Nectandra rodioei, a 

 native of British Guiana. Its timber is used in ship-building, under the 

 name of Green-heart. Well-known inhabitants of North America arc 

 Sassafras officinale (Laurus sassafras) or sassafras, and Benzoin odoriferum 

 (L. benzoin) or spice-bush. The Victor's Laurel of the ancients is the Laurus 

 nobilis. 



Campliora officinarum (L. campliora), the camphor-tree {pi. 58, 59, Jig. 

 15, a-c). 



Cinnamomum zeylanicum (L. cinnamomum), the cinnamon tree ( />/. 58. 50, 

 ßg. 16) ; c, bark ; d, structure of the bark ; e, perianth externally ; f, the 

 same externally ; g, stamen ; h, pistil ; /, fruit ; /.\ sexual apparatus ; /, 

 stamen, f^fg- 16, b, bark of C. cassia. 



Laurus nobilis, the A^ictor's Laurel (Mediterranean coast) (pi. 58, 59. ßg. 

 IT) ; a, branch "with fiowers ; b, umbel with male flowers ; c. female flowers ; 

 d, fruit ; e, male flowers magnified ; /, stamen ; g, do. Avith two- to three- 

 lobed valves ; h, female flower magnified ; i, fruit partly in section ; k. a 

 cotyledon. 



Order 73. Begoniace^, the Begonia Family. Flowers unisexual. 

 Perianth colored, having usually four divisions in the male flowers, and five 

 or eight in the female, some being smaller than others ; aestivation imbricate. 

 Stamens 00, distinct, or united into a solid column ; anthers collected in a 

 head, dithecal, with a thick connective, and longitudinal dehiscence. Ovary 

 adherent to the tube of the perianth, winged, three-celled, Avith three pla- 

 centas meeting in the axis ; ovules 00, anatropal ; stigmas three, sessile, 

 tAvo-lobed, somewhat spirally twisted. Fruit a membranous, triangular, 

 Avinged capsule, dehiscing below in a loculicidal manner. Seeds 00, minute ; 

 testa thin and reticulated ; albumen : embryo oblong ; radicle next the 

 hilum. Semi-succulent herbaceous plants and undershrubs, with alternate 

 oblique leaves, having large scarious stipules. They are sometimes called 

 Elephant's ear, from the form of the leaves. They are natives of warm 

 countries, as the East and West Indies, and South America. The stomata on 

 the loAver side of the leaves of many of the species of Begonia are arranged 

 in clusters, and exhibit a beautiful appearance under the microscope. There 

 are three genera and 159 known species. Example : Begonia. Plants of this 

 genus are fixvorites with American horticulturists. 



Order 74. Polygonacete, the Buckwheat Family. Perianth inferior, 

 divided, often colored ; restivation imbricate. Stamens definite, inserted 

 into the bottom of the perianth ; anthers with longitudinal dehiscence. 

 Ovary free, usually formed by three carpels, unilocular ; ovule solitary, 

 orthotropal ; styles and stigmas equal to the carpels in number. Fruit a 

 nut, usually triangular, naked or covered by the persistent perianth. Seed 



107 



