296 



DKSCKIITIOXS OK THE SHRUBS 



SWAMP BAY (514) Persea pube"scens, wild from North Carolina 

 south, is a small tree or shrub with the branchlets and other parts hairy, 

 creamy white flowers (| inch), and dark blue drupes inch long. 



A I.I.ICATOI; -I'KAK' (515) Persea gratissima, of California, and 

 Florida, has a slightly pear-shaped green fruit, several inches long, used 

 a- a salad and very palatable. A tree 20 to 30 feet high. 



[Layers; twig cuttings.] 



FIG. 522. White Garland Daphne. 



FIG. 523. Silky Daphne. 



Sassafras. SASSAFRAS (516) Sassafras variifolium (S. offieinale) 

 is an aromatic shrub or tree growing in some cases to the height of 100 

 feet. It has alternate simple entire to 3-lobed leaves without notches or 

 serrations. As the plant is dioecious, only those with pistillate flowers have 

 the blue 1-seeded fruit, | inch long, on red stems. The flowers bloom be- 

 fniv the leaves are expanded. The bark on young twigs is green with a 

 purplish shade on the light side. The bark of the roots is peculiarly 

 aromatic, and is often used in beer making. 



[Seeds ; suckers ;.root cuttings.] 



Capparis. This genus of over 100 mostly tropic plants is here repre- 

 sented by the one species fiom which the genus is named. CAPER-HI *n 

 517) or CA PER- FREE ( 'apparis spinosa, from which capers are made 



