SASSAFRAS, SPICE-BUSH AND BAY 253 



ued European residence, and apparently blotted them out in the 

 whole region from Spain to China where formerly they presumably 

 flourished in appropriate situations, leaving them only in eastern 

 Asia and southeastern North America. 



THE BAY 



The term bay is in different regions the popular name of several 

 different kinds of swamp plants. As used here it applies to the 3 

 forms of our southern States known as the red bay, swamp bay 

 or Isabella-wood. They will be unfamiliar to most of my readers, 

 and are introduced in order to give a glimpse into the history of a 

 member of this great family of the Lauraceae which is essentially 

 tropical rather than temperate in its modern development, although 

 our bays range northward as far as southern Maryland. They are 

 either trees or shrubs, those of the tropics being mostly trees, our 

 boys being either, with ovate or lanceolate leathery leaves, small 

 not especially conspicuous flowers, and globose berry-like fruits. 

 Our American forms are dwellers in swamps and low stream bot- 

 toms where the climate does not fluctuate as in other situations 

 but this habitat does not hold for the other members of the genus. 



They are referred to a genus called Persea, which was the ancient 

 name of some now unknown Oriental tree, although the existing 

 Perseas are all Occidental except for a single survivor from bygone 

 days that at present inhabits the Canary Islands. There are 

 about 50 existing species of Persea, mostly trees of tropical America, 

 some of which furnish the alligator pears or avocados that are 

 now cultivated in many tropical countries. I have had but slight 

 experience with the alHgator pears usually to be seen on sale in 

 our better fruit stores, but I can testify to the extreme daintiness 

 and appetizing taste that they have when personally collected and 

 properly seasoned with sugar and lime-juice. 



The geological history of Persea is of interest since it is somewhat 

 different from that of most of the trees discussed in this volume. 

 The known fossil species are about as numerous as the still exist- 

 ing species, that is, about 50 different forms are known from the 

 rocks. Six of these are recorded from the Upper Cretaceous in 



