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LAUREL. 



Family: LAURACEAE. 



Reproductive system: ENNEANDRY, MONOGYNY. 



The common laurel tree, Laurus nobilis, Linn., is a beautiful tree in southern 

 Provence. It grows twelve or fifteen meters tall. The leaves are alternate, lanceolate with 

 undulate margins, firm, leathery, and persistent. They crackle when burned and emit a 

 pleasant aroma. The flowers are small, yellowish, set in the axils of the leaves, and are 

 dioecious. The calyx has four divisions. The stamens, six to eight of them, are arranged in 

 two rows. They have two appendages at the base. The anthers open from bottom to top. 

 The ovary is free; it converts to a fleshy drupe. 



FLOWERS: in May. 



RANGE: Italy and southern Provence. 



NOMENCLATURE. Daphne in Greek. German, der lorbeerbaum. English, 

 common sweet bay. Italian, allow. Russian, lawr. Bohemian, bobkowy strom. Colloquial 

 French, sauce laurel tree, ham laurel tree. 



The sassafras tree, Laurus sassafras, Linn., is a ten- or twelve-meter high tree in 

 North America. It doesn't get that tall in Kew or around Paris, where it's grown in open 

 ground. The leaves are alternate and petiolate. Some are oval and entire; others have two 

 or three lobes and are deciduous. The flowers are small, herbaceous, dioecious, and form 

 loose terminal clusters. The calyx has six divisions; there are seven or eight stamens. The 

 fruit is a fleshy drupe. 



FLOWERS: in May and June. 



RANGE: Carolina. 



USES. The ancients believed that the common, or Apollo's, laurel tree is never 

 struck by lightning. The emperor Tiberius put on a crown of laurel during storms 



