L A U 



L A IT 



breadth in the broad -leaved variety, and from 



t foui inches m length, entire, on short 



. having an agreeable smell, and an aro- 



m .. bitterish tastes the flowers are 



i us, or male and female on difierent i 



in racemes shorter than the leaves, of an he 



ceous colour: the corollas four-pctalled in the 



male flowers, with from eight to twelve, stamens: 



the berry si ovate, fleshy, dark purple 



almost black: the receptacle none, except a 



small tubercle at the bottom, whence a vascular 



•:i each side the whole length of the 



. ovate, slightly mucronate 



above. It ' of the southern parts of 



re are several varieties ; as the broad - 

 . which is almost too tender for the open 

 air in this climate, with leaves much broader 

 and smoother than those of the common sort : — 

 the commo n , which is seldom hurt in this cli- 

 mate, except in very severe winters, of which 

 there are two subvarietie-, one with plain leaves, 

 the other with leaves waved on the edges : — the 

 narrow-leaved, with very long narrow leaves, 

 not so thick as those of the preceding two sorts, 

 and of a light green, the branches covered with 

 a purplish bark, and the male flowers come out 

 in small clusters from the axils of the leaves, 

 sitting close to the branches : of which there are 

 subvarieties in the nurseries with variegated 

 lea'. . - . 



What is now called Bav was formerly called 

 Laurel, which has introduced some confusion. 



The second species rises with a shrubby 

 branching stalk eight or ten feet high, covered 

 with a purple bark : the leaves are opposite, near 

 two inches long and one inch broad, smooth on 

 their upper side, but veined on their under, 

 where they are rough: the berries red, nearly 

 the size and shape of the common Bay-berrv. 

 It is a native of North America. 



The third rises to the height of ten or twelve 

 feet, dividing into many branches : the leaves arc 

 near three inches long, and an inch and a half 

 broad, smooth on their upper surface, but with 

 many transverse veins on their under side: the 

 flowers of a white herbaceous colour, with six 

 stamina in each : the involucre is sessile, four- 

 leaved, mueh resembling that of Cornus, in- 

 cluding five petioled florets, the length of the 

 involucre : proper calyx (or corolla) six -parti 

 yellow, with linear segments : the stamens eight 

 or nine, the length of the calyx, appuidicled 

 on the s,ides : the germ ovate, « calyx : 



the style simple. It is a native of Virginia. 



•yn observes that it has been confounded 

 with the- true Benzoin tree. See Sty rax Bln- 



ZuIN. 



The fourth species is commonly a shrub, seldom 

 rising more than eight or ten feet high (it some- 

 times, however, grows into a large tree) : the 

 leave- are of difierent shapes and sizes: some 

 ov.d and entire, about four inches long and tl 

 broad: others are deeply divided "into three 

 lobes : these are ~ix inches long, and as much in 

 breadth from the extremity or the two outside 

 lobes ; they are placed alternately on pretty long 

 stalks, and are of a lucid green ; they fall 

 oil early in the autumn; and in the spring, soon 

 after the leaves begin to come out, the fiov. 

 appear just below them, on slender peduncles, 

 each sustaining three or four small, yellow 

 (greenish white) flower-, which have rive oval 

 concave petals, and eight stamina in the male 

 flowers, which are upon different plants from 

 the hermaphrodite- flowers : these are succeeded 

 by an oval berry, which, when ripe, is blue. 

 It is a native of America. Its wood is of a 

 light and spongy texture, having a fragrant 

 smell, and a sweetish aromatic taste. 



The fifth is a large tree with ascending 

 branches : the branches, and particularly the 

 shoots, are tubercled with scars from the fallen 

 leaves; they are alternate, curved inwards, 

 wrinkled and smooth : the leaves scattered, acu- 

 minate with a bluntish point, quite entire, 

 Oth, veined, reflex, four inches long: the 

 petioles semi-cylindric, grooved, smooth, re- 

 I'tx : the Bowers terminating, below racemedj 

 above panicled : the panicle tritid: ovate, red 

 nectareous scales at the base of the filaments, 

 which vary in number from seven to nine; six 

 outer, and one, two, or three inner : they are 

 unequal, flat, and nearly equal to the calyx : 

 the anthers compressed, four-celled : the germ 

 roundish : the style very short : the berry globu- 

 lar, small, and brown. It is a native of Ma- 

 deira. 



Tiie sixth species rises with a straight larcrc 

 trunk to a considerable height near the sea ; but 

 in the inland parts of the country it is of 

 humbler stature : the leaves are much longer 

 than those of the Common Bay, and are a little 

 woolly on their under side; their edtrcs are a 

 little reflexed ; the veins run transversely from 

 the midrib to the sides : the male flowers come 

 out in long buncb.es from the axils of the leaves: 

 the female flowers in loose bunches on prettv 

 long red peduncles: the berries are blue, in red 

 cups, growing two and sometimes three toge- 

 ther. It is a native of America. 



The seventh species i- very near akin to the 



ninth, from which it differs in the leaves, those 



ot the latter having three ribs running lon<ri- 



tudinally from the foot-stalk to the point, 



e they soon diminish ; whereas in this the 



