290 LAUREL FAMILY. 



R. salicif61iUS, WHITE D. Salt marshes : l-.3 high ; pedicels much 

 shorter than ihe fruiting calyx and in much-crowded whorls, forming a spike; 

 valves more triangular than in the foregoing and smaller, their grain very 

 large ; root white. 



R. verticillatUS, SWAMP D. Common N. : 3 -5 high ; whorls loose; 

 fruit-hearing pedicels slender and club-shaped, abruptly reflcxcd ; valves some- 

 what rhombic and with narrow blunt apex, each bearing a very large grain ; 

 leaves thickish, the lowest often heart-shaped at base. 



* # Weeds nat. from Europe, in cult, or waste ground : stem erect, 2 -4 high : 

 lower leaves or some of them heart-shaped at. base, all more or less wavy : 

 root commonly yd'ow and tpvuOe+kafted. 2/ 



R. crispus, CURLMD D. Leaves green, lanceolate, very wavy-curled, the 

 lower rather truncate than heart-shaped at base ; whorls crowded in long 

 racemes ; valves rounded, heart-shaped, nearly entire ; mostly grain-bearing. 



R. sanguineus, BLOODY-VEINED or Ki D D. Leaves less curled and 

 red-veined, lanceolate or oblong ; whorls distant ; pedicels verv short ; valves 

 narrowly oblong, one or more grain-bearing. 



R. Obtusif61ius, BITTER D. Leaves little wavy, the upper lance-oblong 



and acute, lower oblong-heart-shaped and obtuse ; whorls loose and distant ; 



"waives ovate, partly halberd-shaped, beset with some long sharp teeth near the 



case, usually only one grain-bearing. 

 ^^\* # # Sandy sea-shore and river-banlcs N. : 5' 12' high, spreading, (T) 



R. maritimus. Minutely pubescent ; leaves lance-linear, wavy-margined, 

 the fowcr auriclcd or heart-shaped at base; whorls much crowded into leafy 

 spikes ; valves rhombic-oblong with a tapering point, turning orange-colored, a 

 large grain on the back and 2 or 3 long stout bristles on each margin. 



2. SORRELS. Herbnqe ncid: some haves halberd-shaped, others with entire 

 narrowed bnxr : flower* dicerious, small, in a terminal naked panicle : valves 

 naked : fi. spring and summer. % 



U. Acetos611a, COMMON or SHEEP SORREL. Low weed in all sterile 

 9 ^fields ; leaves lance-on ong or halberd-shaped, the lobes or auricles narrow ; pedi- 

 ' /"eels jointed with the flower ; ovate valves hardly enlarging in fruit. 



R. Engeltnanni, on'y S. & W., differs in pedicels jointed near the mid- 

 dle, and thin rounded heart-shaped valves becoming many times larger than 

 the akene. 



96. LAUB.ACE.aE, LAUREL FAMILY. 



Spicy-aromat'c trees or shrubs, the alternate simple leaves (with 

 entire margins but sometimes lobed) more or less marked wiih 

 minute pellucid dots ; the regular flowers with a calyx of 4 or 6 

 sepals imbricated in two ranks in the bud, and free from the 

 ovary ; the latter is terminated by a simple style and stigma, is 

 1-celled with a hanging ovule, and in I'ruit becomes a berry or 

 drupe. The stamens (in ours 9) furnish a special character, their 

 anthers opening by uplifted valves ! To this family belong the 

 classical Laurel or Bay, the Cinnamon, the Camphor-tree, &c. 



* Floirers perfect, in axillary panic Ics. 



1. PERSEA. Calyx G-parfed, persistent nt the base of the berry. Stamens 9 



with anthers, the 3 outer of which urn turned outwards, the 6 others inward; 

 also 3 glands or sterile filaments forming an innermost row. The two proper 

 cells of the anther with a lower and an upper chamber, making 4 compart- 

 ments, each open! ni: by a. valve in the manner of a trap-door. 

 * * Flowers wholly or ncnrhf (l/<i>ri<nis, f/re(>nl*fi-ij< !!>i\ leares deci<1nou$. 



2. SASSAFRAS. Flowers in an open corymbed and pedunrled cluster, with 



spreading G-parted calyx: sterile one? with !' stamens in 3 rows, tho filaments 

 of the three inner with' a pair of yellow stalked plands on their base. Anthers 

 with 4 chambers as in the preceding. Fertile flowers with 6 rudiments of 

 stamens and an ovoid ovary, becoming a drupe. 



