The Laurels and the Sassafras 



species. All but the sassafras produce handsome, ornamental 

 wood, used in inlay work and for interior finish of houses. 



1. Genus PERSEA, Linn. 



Red Bay (Persea Borhonia, Spreng.) — A shapely, narrow 

 headed tree, 50 to 70 feet high, with numerous stout, erect branches 

 and angled branchlets. Roots yellow, fleshy. Bark thick, red, 

 furrowed and cut into broad, flat, scaly ridges; branches greenish. 

 IVood hard, heavy, strong, bright red. Buds woolly, red, small. 

 Leaves evergreen, 3 to 4 inches long, broad, entire, oblong to 

 lanceolate, tapering at base and apex, thick, bright green, lustrous, 

 gloucous beneath, turning yellow; petioles stout, short, brown. 

 Flowers small, white, axillary, in few-flowered clusters. Fruit 

 blue or black, shiny berries, ^ inch long, i -seeded, with persistent 

 calyx lobes. Preferred habitat, stream and swamp borders. 

 Distribution, Virginia to Texas near coast; north to Arkansas. 



The red bay is a handsome tree deserving more extensive 

 cultivation for its clean, leathery foliage, which is red when it 

 opens and yellow before it dies. The brilliant dark green mass 

 is lightened in summer by the pale leaf linings. The red bark 

 probably gives the name its distinguishing adjective. The leaf 

 is not unlike that of Laurus nobilis, the familiar tub laurel of 

 hotel verandas. 



This lover of rich, wet soil is occasionally discovered growing 

 wild among long-leaf pines in dry, sandy loam — a most encourag- 

 ing fact for anyone who wishes to grow the tree in ordinary well- 

 drained soil. The berries are handsome but not showy. The 

 wood, was once used for boatbuilding, but is now devoted to 

 interior house finishing and fancy articles of furniture. It is 

 comparatively rare in use. 



The Swamp Bay (P. pubescens, Sarg.) is a slender tree, 

 rarely 40 feet high, that frequently crowds out all other under- 

 growth in pine barren swamps along the coast from North Carolina 

 to Mississippi. Its densely woolly opening shoots and leaf veins, 

 and the dull brown bark distinguish it from the previous species, 

 as do also the long stalks on which the flowers and berries are 

 borne. 



The Avocado, or Alligator Pear (P. gratissima, Gaertn.), 

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