654 CLXXXVII. LAURINE,E. 



upwards by a longitudinal persistent valvule. OVAET free (or very rarely adherent), 

 1-celled; style simple, rather stout, short; stigma obtuse, sub-capitate or discoid, 

 obscurely 2-3-lobed; ovule solitary (very rarely 2), pendulous from the top of the 

 cell, anatropous. FRUIT a berry, rarely a drupe, or dry, globose or ellipsoid, usually 

 seated on the thickened pedicel, or girt at its base by or included in the calyx- tube. 

 SEED inverted, exalbuminous ; testa membranous. EMBRYO straight ; cotyledons 

 large, plano-convex (coiled in Gyrocarpeca), peltate near the base, fleshy, oily ; radicle 

 very short, superior. 



[The following sub-orders and tribes are those of Meissner in De Candolle's 

 ' Prodromus : '- 



Sab-order I. LAURINE* VER.E. Frutescent or arborescent leafy plants. Fruit superior, 

 or very rarely inferior (Agathophyllum). Cotyledons plano-convex. Anthers 2-celled or 4- 

 locellate. 



TRIBE I. PERSEACE.E. Flowers usually $ , 3-merous. Calyx G-lobed ; stamens 9, 3 inner 

 extrorse, 2-glandular ; staminodes 3, stipitate, rarely 0. Leaves evergreen ; buds usually 

 naked. Cinnam'Omum, Alsoodaphne, Phoebe, Machilus, *Persea, Haasia, Beilschmiedia, Boldoa, 

 NesodapJtne, &c. 



TRIBE II. CRYPTOCARYJE. Flowers usually 3- rarely 4-merous. Stamens 9, 6, 3, rarely 

 4 ; staminodes frequently obsolete. Fruit enclosed in the calyx-tube. Leaves evergreen, buds 

 not scaly. Cryptocarya, Aimtea, Acrodiclidinm, Aydendron, Mespilodaphne, &c. 



TRIBE III. OREODAPHNE^. Flowers usually dioecious, 3-merons. Stamens 9, rarely 3, 

 3 innermost 2-glandular; staminodes or obsolete. Berry naked or girt at the base by tho 

 calyx-tube. Oreodaphne, Nectandra, *Sassafras, Gwppertia, &c. 



TRIBE IV. LITS^ACE*. Flowers usually dioecious, 6- rarely 4-merons. Anthers all 

 introrse ; staminodes or obsolete. Tetmntheru, Cylicodaphne, Actinodaphne, Litscea, Daph- 

 nidium, *Laurus, Aperula, Lindera, Ac. 



Sub-order II. CASSYTHE*. Parasitic herbs with filiform twining stem, adhering by 

 suckers to living plants. Leaves replaced by scales. Ovary included in the calyx-tube. 

 Anthers 2-celled. CassytJia. 



Sub-order III. GYROCARPEjE. 1 Frutescent or arborescent erect or climbing leafy plants. 

 Fruit inferior. Cotyledons spirally coiled around the gemmule. Anthers 2-celled. Gyro- 

 carpus, Sparattanthelinm, Uligera. ED.] 



Laurineee form a very natural family, which, in its woody stem, its usually coriaceous evergreen and 

 exstipulate leaves, its often unisexual flowers, simple perianth, perigynous stamens, 1-celled and 1-ovuled 

 ovary, presents an affinity with Atherospermea and Thymelees ; the latter also resemhle it in the 

 pendulous ovule, the exalbuminous seed, and the fleshy cotyledons, but differ in the dehiscence of the 

 anthers. Atherospermeee have, like Launneae, anthers opening by ascending valvules, but the pistil is 

 polycarpellary, the ovule is erect, and the embryo minute at the base of a fleshy albumen. 



Laurineae grow especially in tropical regions, where they form forests on cool mountains [and in hot 

 valleys, plains, &c.], but a few are found in North America [South Africa, Australia], the Canaries, and 

 Mediterranean Europe; they are absent from North Asia [except Japan and China] and the tropical 

 African continent. Cassytha is met with in South Africa [India], and all hot regions of the southern 

 hemisphere. 



Laurineee secrete a pungent volatile oil in the bark and glands of the leaves and flowers. This oil 



1 See Comhretacea, p. 420. ED. 



