1300 



ARBORETUM AND FUUTICETUM, 



PART III. 



to 20 in. in diameter, yet rarely exhi- ]\QQ 



bits a regular form : its trunk is gene- 

 rally crooked, and divided into several 

 thick limbs at 8 ft., 10ft., or 12ft. from 

 the ground. In America, Michaux tells 

 us, " upon old trunks the bark is thick, 

 and deeply furrowed ; that of the young 

 branches, on the contrary, is smooth, 

 and of a beautiful green colour. The 

 leaves are about Gin. long, alternate, 

 oval-acuminate, glaucous on the lower 

 surface, and evergreen. When bruised 

 they diffuse a strong odour, resembling 

 that of the sweet bay (Laurus nobilis), 

 and may, like those of that species, be employed in cookery." (Michx. North 

 A>cr. Syl., ii. p. 151.) The male flowers come out in long bunches from the 

 axils of the leaves ; and the female flowers in loose bunches on pretty long 

 red peduncles. The berries are of a dark rich blue, in red cups, and they 

 grow two, and sometimes three, together. The red bay is found in the lower 

 part of Virginia, and it continues in abundance throughout the maritime dis- 

 tricts of the Carolinas, Georgia, the two Floridas, and Lower Louisiana. 

 Mixed with the sweet bay (JLaurus nobilis), tupelo (Nyssa biflora), red 

 maple ( A^cer rubrum), and water oak (Quercus aquaticaX it fills the broad 

 swamps which intersect the pine barrens. A cool and humid soil appears 

 essential to its growth ; and it is remarked, that the farther south it grows, 

 the more vigorous and beautiful is its vegetation. It was discovered by 

 Catesby, and described and figured by him in his work on Carolina; Miller 

 cultivated it in 1739. In France, Plumier constituted it a genus, to which 

 he gave the name of Borbdnza in honour of Gaston de Bourbon, son of 

 Henry IV., and uncle of Louis XIV. In America, the wood of the red 

 bay is used for cabinet-making, as it is very strong, and of a beautiful rose- 

 colour, has a fine compact grain, and is susceptible of a brilliant polish, 

 having the appearance, as Catesby tells us, of watered satin. Before mahogany 

 became the reigning fashion in cabinet-making, Michaux observes, the wood 

 of the red bay was commonly employed in the southern states of North 

 America by the cabinet-makers, who produced from it articles of furniture of 

 the highest degree of beauty ; but trees of the red bay are now no longer to 

 be found in North America of sufficient diameter for this purpose, and re- 

 course is had to mahogany, which is imported from St. Domingo at a moderate 

 price. It might also be employed in ship-building, and for other purposes of 

 construction, as it unites the properties of strength and durability ; but its 

 trunks are rarely found of sufficient dimensions to render it available for 

 these purposes. In England it is solely considered as an ornamental tree ; 

 and as it is more tender than the common sweet bay, it is only suitable for 

 warm or sheltered situations, or for being placed against a wall. 



* 3. L. CATESBij4 r 2v^4 Michx. Catesby's Laurel, or Red Bay. 



Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 244. : Spreng. Syst., 2. p. 265. ; Pursh Fl. Amer., Sept. 1., 

 p. 275. 



Engraving. Catcsb. Car., t. 28. 



Spec. Char., S(c. Evergreen. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, glossy. Plovers in a terminal panicle. Fruit 

 ovate. (SprenfT. Syst., 2. p. 265.) An evergreen shrub, a native of the sea-coast of Georgia and Ca- 

 rolina, introduced in 18'J(), and flowering in May. The flowers are white, and the berries black, 

 based by red calyxes, on thick red peduncles. We have not seen the plant. 



* 4. L. AGGREGA N TA Sims. The groupcd-flowcrcd Laurel, or Bay. 



Identification. Sims Bot. Ma?., t. 2497. 



Engravings. Bot, Mag., t. '2497. ; and our fig. 1170. 



.S>r. Char., S(c. Evergreen. Leaves ovate-acuminate, 3-ncrved, glaucous beneath. Flowers 

 ii|>on distinct pedicels, disused in axillary groups, that are attended at the base with scaly, 

 ovate, concave bracteas. (Sims in Dot. Mag., t. 24"J7.) An evergreen shrub, a native of China, 



