LIX. ZAURA CEM : ZAU'RUS. 



681 



' VHerit.) 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. Tntrod. 



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. paiiiisja. British gardens. 



1328. C. Pallasia 



Order LIX. iAURA^CE^. 



OrI). Char. Pei-^ianth 4 6-cleft ; aestivation imbricate. Stamens definite, 

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

 series. Anthers adnate, 2 4-celied. 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 unibeled. 

 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. 



Gem us L 



LAU'RUS L. The Laurel, or Bay, Tree. Lin. Syst. Enneandria 



Monogynia. 



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



Synunymcs. Sdisafras and Benzdin, C. G. Von Esenbeck; Daphne, Greek; Laurier, Fr.\ 



Lorbcer, Ger. 

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

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

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



I Gen. Char., c^-c. Sexes polygamous or dioecious. Calj/.v with 6 sepals. 

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

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

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

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

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

 \ externally and including one seed. CWj/Zec/o^i^ eccentrically peltate. (Wit/d.) 

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

 I lobed. Floivers in small conglomerate umbels or bracteate racemes. 

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

 I Korth of Africa, and America. Propagated by seeds or layers. 



A. Leaves evergreen. 



I * t 1. Z. no'bilis L. The noble Laurel, or Sweet Bay, 



fiienfification. Lin. Sp., 529. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 2. p. 479. 



tojnonymes. iaurus Camcr., Tourn., Dodon., Ray ; L. vulgaris Jlauh. Pin. 4C0. ; Laurier comniun, 



Laurier franc, Laurier d'ApoUon, Laurier a Sauce, Fr. ; gemeine Lorbeer, Ger ; AUoro, Ital. 

 Zngravin^s. Flor. Grasc, t. 365. ; the plate in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. vil. ; and ovr fig. 1329. 



Char,, See. Eversreen. Flowers 4-cleft. Sexes dioecious. Leaves 



"^pcc. 



