

494 BOTANY. 



they are made use of in flavoring custards, puddings, etc., and are put 

 into boxes of figs to give them a factitious flavor. (Figs. 398-402.) 



Umbellularia Californica (Tetranthera California*), the California 

 Laurel, resembles the preceding, and like it is evergreen. Its wood is 

 used in cabinet-making. 



Persea gratusima, a small West Indian tree, produces a delicious 

 fruit called Avocado- or Alligator-Pear. 



Among the aromatic products are Cinnamon, the bark of Cinna- 

 momum Zeylanicum, a small tree of Ceylon ; Cassia Bark and Cassia 

 buds, from G. Cassia, of Ceylon ; Camphor, a gummy matter distilled 

 from the wood of C. Camphora, a tree of China and Japan; Sassafras 

 Bark, from Sassafras ojficinale, of the Eastern United States. 



The wood of the two last-named trees is valuable in cabinet-making, 

 as is also that of the Red Bay (Persea) of the Southern United States. 



Nectandra Rodiei. the Greenheart Tree of Guiana, is a large tree 

 furnishing an exceedingly heavy, dark colored, and durable timber, 

 highly valued in naval constructions. 



Order Myristicacese. The Nutmeg Family. Aromatic trees, with 

 monadelphous stamens, and an erect seed containing endosperm. The 

 seventy -five species are all tropical, and most of them occur in the In- 

 dian region. They all belong to the genus Myris ica. 



Myristica fragrans, the Nutmeg Tree of the Malay Archipelago, at- 

 tains a height of six to nine metres (20 to 30 ft.) , it bears a fleshy fruit 

 of the size of a walnut and inside of this is a large seed covered with a 

 red, branching aril (Figs. 403-4). The seed, deprived of its integu- 

 ments, is the nutmeg of commerce, while the dried aril is the Mace, 

 both well known condiments. 



Some of the other species are occasionally used, but they are much 

 less valuable. 



Order Monimiaceae. Aromatic trees or shrubs of the tropics and 

 south temperate zone. About 150 species are known. The Tasmnnian 

 "Sassafras Tree" (Afherosperma moschata), the Australian " Sassafras 

 Tree" (Doryphora Sassafras), and the New Zealand "Sassafras" 

 (Lauretta Nova Zelandice), are large trees thirty to forty-five metres 

 (100 to 150 ft.) high, whose timber is valuable for ship-building. 



579. Cohort XT. Chenopodiales. Monoclinous (rarely 

 diclinous) herbs or shrubs ; ovary superior, one-celled, the 

 single seed containing endosperm. 



Order Paronychieee. A small group of mostly herbaceous plants, 

 the flowers generally with both sepals and petals ; the latter, however, 

 rudimentary. The order has close affinities with Caryophyllacese, of 

 which it should probably be considered a sub-order. 



Order Basellacese. Herbaceous, often climbing plants of the 

 tropics. One epecies from South America (Boumngaultia baselloides) 



