LAURACEJE. 



under side. Panicles compact, divaricating, silky. Fruit oval. The 

 fruit yields upon distillation a limpid volatile oil of a yellow wine- 

 colour, an aromatic acrid taste, and smell as if old oil of Orange peel 

 had been mixed with oil of Rosemary. Used in Brazil in contractions 

 of the joints, pains in the limbs and similar cases. 



696. O. cupularis Nees Laurin. 438. Laurus cupularis Lam. 

 enc. iii. 447. ill. gen. t. 321. Bois de Canelle AM. guian. i. p. 363. 

 and 364-. Woods of the Isles of France, Bourbon, and Mada- 

 gascar. 



A very large tree, with a strong scented wood. Leaves ovate- 

 elliptical, acute at each end (sometimes blunt at the apex), ending in a 

 channelled stalk, obsoletely netted, smooth ; the axils of the costal 

 veins without pores. Racemes in clustered few-flowered rough hoary 

 racemes below the axillary and terminal bud. Calyx of fruit nearly 

 globose. This is the Cinnamon of the Isle of France. 



SASSAFRAS. 



Dioecious. Calyx 6-parted, membranous; segments equal, 

 permanent at the base. $ . Fertile stamens 9, in 3 rows, the 

 3 inner with double stalked distinct, glands at the base. Anthers 

 linear, 4-celled, all looking inwards. Female with as many ste- 

 rile stamens as the male, or fewer ; the inner often confluent. 

 Fruit succulent, placed on the thick fleshy apex of the peduncle, 

 and seated in the torn unchanged calyx. Flowers yellow, be- 

 fore the leaves. Leaves deciduous. 



697. S. officinale N. and E. handb. ii. 418. pi. med. t. 131. 

 Nees Laurin. 488. Laurus sassafras Linn. sp. pi. 530. Mich. 

 Fl. bor. am. i. 244. Arbres forest, iii. p. 173. t. 1. Woods of 

 North America from Canada to Florida. 



A small tree or bush, flowering before the leaves. Leaves mem- 

 branous, bright green, smooth above, finely downy beneath, very 

 variable in form, some being obovate, others deeply 3-lobed, and some 

 lobed only on 1 side, all however tapering in a wedge-like manner into 

 the petiole. Racemes naked, downy, with subulate deciduous bracts. 

 Fruit bright blue, rather larger than a pea, upon red clavate peduncles. 

 The bark of the root, which is thick and blood red, contains a great 

 quantity of essential oil. It has a high reputation as a powerful 

 sudorific, and combined with guaiacum and sarsaparilla in cutaneous 

 affections, chronic rheumatism, and old siphylitic maladies. The dried 

 leaves contain so much mucilage that they are used in Louisiana for 

 thickening soup, like Hibiscus esculentus. The bark of the branches 

 as well as the wood have been employed : but they are inferior to the 

 bark of the root. Martius says (Travels ii. 96.), that this plant is 

 found commonly in the forests of S. Paul, in Brazil, where it is 

 employed as a diuretic and sudorific; but he probably means some 

 other plant. 



698. S. Parthenoxylon Nees Laurin. 491. Laurus Parthe- 



noxylon Jack. mal. misc. in Bot. misc. ii. p. 76 Laurus por- 



recta Roxb. hort. calc 30. Laurus pseudosassafras Blume bijdr. 



338 



