34 HOUGH'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



green above, paler beneath with yellowish midrib and veins somewhat united 

 near the margins. Flowers perfect, in pedunculate many-flowered umbels, which 

 are included before expansion by an involucre of 4-(i broad caducous bracts, the 

 last umbels subsessile, pedicels slender, puberulous, developed from the axils of 

 deciduous bracts; calyx with six broad obovate pale-yellow lobes divided almost 

 to the base and arranged in two series, imbricated in aestivation, reflexed after 

 the flower opens and finally falling away; corolla wanting; stamens 12, inserted 

 on the calyx-tube in four series, the innermost sterile, filaments short, flat, glab- 

 rous, pale yellow, those of the innermost series furnished near the base each with 

 two orange-colored glands; anthers innate, oblong, 4-celled. the outermost series 

 extrorse, the others introrse, opening by persistent lids; pistil with short columnar 

 style, shorter than the lobes of the calyx, with discoid capitate stigma and glab- 

 rous ovate sessile ovary containing a solitary anatropous ovule suspended from 

 the apex of the cell. Fruit an ovate or subglobose drupe subtended by the 

 enlarged calyx-tube yellowish green or tinted with red. having thin pericarp and 

 ovate light-brown seed with hard woody testa and containing no albumen. 



The genus contains but a single species and the name is the Latin diminutive 

 of umbella, a little umbrella, and refers to the form of flower-cluster. 



159. UMBELLULARIA CALIFORNICA, NUTT. 



CALIFORNIA LAUREL, SPICE TREE, BAY TREE, PEPPER-WOOD. 



Ger., Californiscker Lorbeer; Fr., Laurier de Calif ornie; Sp., 

 Laurel de California. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS are mainly included in the above generic description. 

 Leaves 2-5 inches long. Flowers appear in the latter part of the winter or in 

 early spring before the new leaves appear, in the axils of the leaves of the pre- 

 vious year, and later occasionally in the axils of the new leaves. Fruit about 

 1 in. or less in length hanging generally two or three together with thickened 

 stems from which they fall away in autumn leaving the stems attached to the 

 branches. 



This beautiful tree, often a characteristic one of the California 

 landscape, attains the height of 90 or 100 ft. (30 in.) with a trunk 

 sometimes 4-6 ft. (1.50 m.) in thickness, having a grayish -brown bark 

 with irregular, somewhat yielding, scaly, longitudinal ridges. When 

 growing by itself it develops a rather round, compact head with stout 

 spreading branches. All parts of the tree are characterized by an 

 aromatic, pungent,' volatile oil of spicy flavor and odor. 



HABITAT. From southeastern Oregon southward, west of the 

 crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, to the southern slopes of the 

 San Bernardino Mountains, growing abundantly along water-courses 

 and bottom-lands. It reaches its greatest development in the northern 

 part of its range. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood heavy, hard, strong, compact, close- 

 grained, susceptible of a beautiful polish, with small, evenly dis- 

 tributed ducts and numerous fine medullary rays. It is of a light 

 brown color with abundant lighter sap-wood. Specific Gravity, 

 0.6517; Percentage of Ash, 0.39; Relative Approximate Fuel 

 Value, 0.6492; Coefficient of Elasticity, 106766; Modulus of 



