FLOWERS. 309 



Neroli is obtained, which is used in perfumery, and the 

 hard close-grained wood is used for inlaying. 



302. "The most beautiful, the most elegant, the most 

 precious of all trees" is the Caryopfv^llua aromatieus, which 

 produces the Cloves of commerce. It is a member of the 

 Pink family (CaryophyllaGece), and grows to the height of 

 forty feet. The trunk is straight ; the bark is smooth, and 

 of a light-olive color ; the crown of the tree forms a per- 

 fect cone. The Clove-tree is a native of the Moluccas and 

 New Guinea, and cultivated in many tropical lands. The 

 cloves are the unexpanded flowers, or flower-buds ; these, 

 atta,ched to their pedicels, are collected when they contain 

 the most and best oil, which amounts to from sixteen to 

 twenty -five per cent. They also contain a large amount of 

 tannin. When dry, the stems are broken off, and from 

 them about four per cent, of oil is obtained by distillation. 

 The oil is slightly yellowish or brownish. It is found in 

 drops, in intercellular spaces, in all the tissues, and even in 

 the filaments. Cloves are extensively used as a spice, and 

 in medicine furnish a stimulant to the digestive organs. 

 The oil is used in perfumery and in flavoring liquors. 



303. Three or four species of Lavendula (femily Lahi- 

 atoB) are cultivated for the flowers, from which the Oil of 

 Lavender is obtained. The species commonest in culti- 

 vation is L. vera, an evergreen shrub about two feet high ; 

 it has grayish-green, hoary leaves, which are linear and 

 sessile. The flowers are in long spikes ; the bilabiate corolla 

 is pale violet or blue; the corolla and calyx are covered 

 with stellate hairs, among which are shining, oily glands, to 

 which the fragrance is due. Lavender is a natiye of the 

 mountainous regions bordering on the Mediterranean ; it is 

 easily acclimated, and found in cultivation in Europe and 



