' 



SPERMATOPHYTA ANONACEAE 



477 



Poisonous properties. While the papaw is edible, there are some cases of 

 poisoning on record. Care should therefore be exercised in its use. The leaves 

 j contain alkaloids. The papaw (P alyalthia argentea) contains asimin, a taste- 

 less amorphous alkaloid. 



LAURACEAE 



Aromatic trees and shrubs with alternate or rarely opposite leaves without 

 i stipules ; flowers small, fragrant, polygamous, dioecious or monoecious ; calyx 

 ! 4-6 parted ; corolla absent ; stamens in 3 or 4 series on the calyx, some imperfect ; 



W fruit a 1-seeded berry or drupe; endosperm none. About 1000 species, mostly 

 tropical. 



The spice-bush (Benzoin aestivale") produces fragrant flowers and aromatic 

 leaves. Camphor C lf) H J6 O is obtained from Cinnamon C amphora which comes 

 ; from the islands of Formosa and Japan; cinnamon, a well known spice, comes 

 from C. seylanicum, which is extensively cultivated in Ceylon ; cassia is from C. 

 Cassia. Cassia and cinnamon were well known to the ancient especially to the 



Fig. 248. Cinnamon Tree (Cinnamomum zeylanictim) . Flow- 

 ering and fruiting branch. The cinnamon of commerce is the 

 bark of this tree. (After Faguet). 



