MISCELLANEOUS NUTS. 275 



fras. It is known under various botanical names, but 

 Laurelia sempervirens is, perhaps, the most familiar. 



California Nutmeg, or Stinking Nutmeg, is the 

 nut-like seed of Torreya Californica, a small tree of 

 the yew family (Taxacece). The fruit is from an inch 

 to an inch and a half long, with a fleshy rind enclosing 

 a hard, long nut, which is slightly grooved like a nut- 

 meg. The fruit, leaves and wood are strongly scented, 

 hence the name of "stinking nutmeg," or "stinking 

 yew." Another species, the T. taxifolia, is a native of 

 Florida. 



OIL NUT. The fruit of a low-branching, deciduous 

 native shrub, growing three to ten feet high, with alter- 

 nate leaves and small greenish flowers in terminal spikes. 

 It is the Pyrularia oleifera of Gray, and Hamiltonia 

 oleifera of Muhlenberg. The fruit is in the form of a 

 pear-shaped drupe, about an inch long, the small seed 

 or nut with an oily kernel of strong acrid taste ; of no 

 value. This shrub is found on shady banks in the 

 mountains of Pennsylvania, and southward into Georgia. 



PARADISE NUT. See Sapucaia nut. 



PEANUT, GROUNDNUT, GOOBER. The well-known 

 fruit of Arar.his hypogma, a low-growing annual belong- 

 ing to the pulse or pea family (Leguminosw), supposed 

 to be a native of South America, but now extensively 

 cultivated in nearly all semi-tropical countries and 

 wherever the summers are long enough to insure the 

 ripening of the seeds. Extensively cultivated in Vir- 

 ginia, south and westward. Too well known to require 

 any further comment or notice here. 



PECAN NUT. See Chap. VII. 



PEKEA NUT. See Souari nut. 



PERUVIAN NUT. See Nutmegs. 



PHYSIC NUT. The seeds of Jatroplia Curcas, a 

 small tree of the spurge wort family (EuphorUacece) . It 

 is native of some of the West Indies and warmer parts 



