LAUREL FAMILY 



LAURACEAE 



WILD ALLSPICE. SPICE BUSH. FEVER BUSH 



Benzoin aeslivale (L. ) Nees 



The Laurel family is represented in Illinois by the 

 Spice Bushes and Sassafras. The Cinnamon Tree, from 

 the bark of which commercial cinnamon is made, and 



the plant from which 

 camphor is obtained 

 are tropical mem- 

 bers of this family. 



The Spice Bush is 

 a shrub with smooth 

 bark and slender twigs, 

 which grows 5-15 feet 

 high. It is found from 

 Maine to Ontario, 

 Michigan and Kansas, 

 south to North Caro- 

 lina and Tennessee. Its 

 bright yellow flowers, 

 which appear early in 

 spring, and its brilliant 

 red fruits, which ripen 

 in autumn, are very 

 conspicuous and make 

 it a desirable shrub for ornamental planting. Twigs and leaves 

 when broken or bruised have a spicy odor by which the plant 

 may easily be identified. 



The flowers are imperfect and generally dioecious; they 

 appear in March and April before the leaves. There is no corolla 

 but the 6 sepals are yellow. The pistillate flower has K-iS 

 rudimentary stamens of two forms, neither of which produces 

 pollen, and a single pistil. The staminate flower has 9 stamens 

 in 3 sets of 3, and a rudimentary and functionless pistil at the 

 center. Filaments of the 3 inner stamens are lobed and gland 

 bearing near the base; the anthers open by lids. The fruits are 

 bright red drupes. 



The Downy Fever Bush, Benzoin melissaefolium (Walt.) Nees, 

 is found from Missouri and southern Illinois to North Carolina, 

 Florida and Alabama. It is similar to the Spice Bush, but twigs, buds 

 and lower surfaces of the leaves are densely covered with short hairs. 



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