494 BOTANY. 



they are made use of in flavoring custards, puddings, etc., and are put 

 into boxes of figs to give them a factitious flavor. (Figs. 398-402.) 



Vmbdlularia Oalifornica (Tetranthera Californica), the California 

 Laurel, resembles tlie preceding, and like it is evergreen. Its wood is 

 used in cabinet-making. 



Persea gratissima, a small West Indian tree, produces a delicious 

 fruit called Avocado- or Alligator-Pear. 



Among the aromatic products are Cinnamon, the bark of Ginna- 

 mom/wm Zeylaniewm, a small tree of Ceylon ; Cassia Bark and Cassia 

 buds, from C. Cassia, of Ceylon ; Camphor, a gummy matter distilled 

 from the wood of U. Campliora, a tree of China and Japan ; Sassafras 

 Bark, from Sassafras officinale, of the Eastern United States. 



The wood of the two last-named trees is valuable in cabinet-making, 

 as is also that of the Red Bay (Persea) of the Southern United States. 



Neetandra Bodiei, the Greenheart Tree of Guiana, is a large tree 

 furnishing an exceedingly heavy, dark colored, and durable timber, 

 highly valued in naval constructions. 



Order SIEyristicacese. — The Nutmeg Family. Aromatic trees, with 

 monadelphous stamens, and an erect seed containing endosperm. The 

 seventy-flve species are all tropical, and most of them occur in the In- 

 dian region. They all belong to the genus Myrisliea. 



Myristica fragrans, the Nutmeg Tree of the Malay Archipelago, at- 

 tains a lieight of six to nine metres (20 to 30 ft.J ; it bears a fleshy fruit 

 of the size of a walnut and inside of this is a large seed covered with a 

 red, branching aril (Figs. 408-4). The seed, deprived of its integu- 

 ments, is the nutmeg of commerce, while the dried aril is the Mace, ' 

 both well known condiments. 



Some of the other species are occasionally used, but they are much 

 less valuable. 



Order Monimiacese. — Aromatic trees or shrubs of the tropics and 

 south temperate zone. About 150 species are known. The TasmaniaD 

 " Sassafras Tree " (Atherosperma moschata), the Australian " Sassafras 

 Tree" (Doryphora Sassafras), and the New Zealand "Sassafras" 

 {Lauretta JVovm Zelandice), are large trees thirty to forty-five metrea 

 (100 to 150 ft.) high, whose timber is valuable for ship-building. 



579.— Cohort XI. Chenopodiales. Monoclinous (rarely- 

 diclinous) herbs or shrubs ; oyary superior, one-celled, the 

 single seed containing endosperm. 



Order ParonycMese.—A small group of mostly herbaceous plants, 

 the flowers generally with both sepals and petals ; the latter, however, 

 rudimentary. The order has close affinities with Caryophyllacese, of 

 which it should probably be considered a sub-order. 



Order Basellaceae. — Herbaceous, often climbing plants of th& 

 tropics. One species from South America (Boussingaultia iaselloides} 



