LIX. ZAURACE^E: XAU'RUS. 



681 



( L'Herit.) A low shrub, evergreen from the colour of its 

 shoots. Banks of the Caspian Sea, and on gravelly hills 

 near the Wolga, at Astracan. Height 3 ft. to 4- ft. Introd. 

 1780. Flowers whitish ; May. 

 Fruit crimson ; July; succu- 

 lent, acid, and eatable. 



A very curious plant, well de- 

 serving the attention of collectors 

 of botanical rarities. Though long 

 since introduced, it is now lost to 

 1327. c. panto*,. British gardens. 



ORDER LIX. AURA x CEj. 



ORD. CHAR. Perianth 4 6-cleft ; aestivation imbricate. Stamens definite, 

 perigynous : opposite the segments, but often double their number, in two 

 series. Anthers adnate, 2 4-celled. Ovarium free, 1 -seeded. Style and 

 Stigma simple. Fruit a berry or drupe. Albumen none. (G. Don.) 



Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, seldom opposite, evergreen or 

 deciduous ; entire, or very rarely lobed. Inflorescence panicled or umbeled. 

 Trees or shrubs, deciduous or evergreen ; natives of Asia and North America, 

 and one of them of the South of Europe. Propagated by seeds or layers. 



GENUS L 



.LAU'RUS L. THE LAUREL, or SAY, TREE. Lin. Syst. Enneandria 

 Monogynia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 503., in part. 



Synonymes. Sassafras and Benzdin, C. G. Von Esenbeck ; Daphne, Greek ; Laurier, Fr. ; 

 Lorbeer, Ger. 



Derivation. From laus, praise ; in reference to the ancient custom of crowning the Roman con- 

 querors with laurel in their triumphal processions There appears some doubt of the iaurus 

 nobilis being the Laurus of the Romans, and the Daphne of the Greeks. (.See Daphne.) 



Gen. Char., fyc. Sexes polygamous or dioecious. Calyx with 6 sepals. 

 Stamens 9 ; 6 exterior, 3 interior, and each of them having a pair of gland- 

 like bodies attached to its base. These last have been deemed imperfect 

 stamens. Anthers adnate ; of 2 cells in most of the species, of 4 unequal 

 ones in the others : each cell is closed by a vertical valve that opens 

 elasticallv, and often carries up the pollen in a mass. Fruit a carpel, pulpy 

 externally and including one seed. Cotyledons eccentrically peltate. (Willd.) 

 Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, deciduous or evergreen ; entire or 

 lobed. Flowers in small conglomerate umbels or bracteate racemes. 

 Shrubs or low trees, deciduous or evergeen ; natives of the South of Europe, 

 North of Africa, and America. Propagated by seeds or layers. 



A. Leaves evergreen. 

 1. L. NO'BILIS L. The noble Laurel, or Sweet Say. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 529. ; Willd. Sp. PL, 2. p. 479. 



Synonymes. Laurus Camer. t Tourn., Dodon., Ray ; L. vulgaris Bauh. Ptn. 460. ; Laurier commun, 



Laurier franc, Laurier d'Apollon, Laurier a Sauce, Fr. ; gemeine Lorbeer, Ger ; Alloro, Ital. 

 Engravings. Flor. Grsc., t. 365. ; the plate in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. vii. ; and our fig. 1329. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Evergreen. Flowers 4-cleft. Sexes dioecious. Leaves 



