The Laurels and the Sassafras 



grows wild in the West Indies, Brazil, Peru and Mexico. It is 

 cultivated in Florida and southern California. The berry in 

 this species has the size and the shape of a Kieflfer pear.' It has 

 smooth, greenish-purple skin, and a yellow pulp, soft and oily 

 like marrow, surrounds the single giant seed. The flavour is 

 peculiar, and strangers to it have to acquire a liking for it. When 

 this preliminary step is taken, they often become extremely 

 fond of it. It is usually cut in two like a melon, and eaten as a 

 salad, dressed with vinegar, salt and pepper. 



The abundant oil expressed from these pears is used in 

 soap making and for illumination. The seeds yield a black 

 dye that is converted into an indelible ink. The growing of 

 the trees is easy and profitable. They begin to fruit in about 

 five years from seed. 



2. Genus OCOTEA, Aubl. 



The Lancewood {Ocotea Caieshyana, Sarg.) is a little ever- 

 green laurel tree 20 to 30 feet high, much like the swamp bay in 

 flower and fruit. But its shoots are smooth, its leaves thin and 

 lanceolate, and the lobes of the calyx have dried away under the 

 berry. The flower stalks are bright red. The reddish-brovv^n 

 bark is warty. This tree is common on the shores and islands of 

 the lower end of Florida, from Cape Canaveral on the east around 

 to Cape Romano. It is abundant and of largest size near Bay 

 Biscayne. 



3. Genus UMBELLARIA, Nutt. 



The California Laurel {Umhellaria Calijornica, Nutt.) is 

 frequent among the broad-leaved maples in the forests of south- 

 western Oregon. It is a lover of wet soil, grov/ing 80 to 90 feet 

 high in rich bottom lands. It climbs the western slopes of the 

 Sierra Nevada and extends to the San Bernardino Mountains 

 in southern California, reaching altitudes of 2,500 feet, but 

 keeping generally along waterways. 



The beauty and stateliness of this tree impress all those who 

 look with eyes that see upon the varied forest flora of California. 

 It is strikingly handsome in a land full of handsome trees. Its 



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