60 FLORA DOMESTICA. 



BAY. 



LAURUS NOBILIS. 



LAUlltNE^i. ENNEANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



Greek, Daphne. Italian, alloro ; laurc. French, laurier. 



THIS Bay, by way of distinction, called the Sweet Bay, 

 well justifies the epithet : the exquisite fragrance of the 

 Bay-leaf, especially when crushed, is known to every one ; 

 even in our climate, where it ranks but as a shrub, and 

 doubtless, in its native soil, where it grows to a height of 

 twenty or thirty feet, the perfume would be still finer. 



How many grand and delightful images does the very 

 name of this tree awaken in our minds ! The warrior thinks 

 of the victorious general returning in -triumph to his coun- 

 try, amid the shouts of an assembled populace ; the prince, 

 of imperial Cassar; the poet and the man of taste, see 

 Petrarch crowned in the Capitol. Women, who are en- 

 thusiastic admirers of genius in any shape, think of all 

 these by turns, and almost wonder how Daphne could 

 have had the heart to run so fast from that most godlike 

 of all heathen gods, Apollo. 



It is said, that turning a deaf ear to the eloquent plead- 

 ings of the enamoured god, she fled, to escape his con- 

 tinued importunities : he pursued, and Daphne, fearful of 

 being caught, entreated the assistance of the gods, who 

 changed her into a laurel. 



" The laurel, meed of mighty conquerors, 

 And poets sage." 



Apollo crowned his head with its leaves, and commanded 

 that the tree should be ever after held sacred to his divinity. 

 Thus it is the true inheritance of the poet ; but when be- 

 stowed upon the conqueror, is only to be considered as an 

 acknowledgment that he deserves immortality from Apollo's 

 children. 



