Beautiful Flowering Shrubs 



leaves, decomposing, give off the hydrocyanic acid, and 

 the insects are killed. It is said that caution is 

 needed, or the plants may share the fate of the insects 

 if too long exposed to this fumigation. The leaves, 

 powdered, produce considerable sneezing. 



The spikes of white flowers, some four to six 

 inches long, hang somewhat obliquely, and consist each 

 of an extraordinarily thick fleshy stalk, on which are 

 set a number of short-stalked, dull-white blossoms. 

 These are of the rose type, for the Cherry Laurel is a 

 member of the rose family, Rosacecz, and has no affinity 

 with the true Laurel family the Laziracece to which 

 sweet bay belongs. Each blossom consists of a cup, 

 whose margin carries five small green lobes. This 

 represents the end of the stalk plus the sepals. Upon 

 and around it are set five dull-white petals, broad and 

 arching at top, but narrowing into a fine attachment 

 below. Within the petals, still on the cup margin, 

 is a ring of many stamens, which in the bud and 

 earliest flower stages are bowed well over with their 

 heads right down in the cup. As the flower matures 

 they gradually raise themselves and stand erect. At 

 the bottom of the cup and in the centre is the seed- 

 case, which tapers up into a thickish column topped 

 by a substantial knob. The flowers are "out" in 

 April and May, and are largely visited by flies and 



beetles, who always appreciate a hydrocyanic type of 



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