430 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 
Next to Cinnamomum come five other genera, which have the 
same flower, and only differ in characters of very slight value, such 
as the nervation of the leaves, the disproportion of the two whorls 
of the perianth, and the behaviour of the perianth floral receptacle 
and pedicel after anthesis. These are Phebe, Machilus, Alseodaphne, 
Persea, and Nothaphebe. In the genus Phebe, consisting of trees 
from both Worlds, the whole perianth persists around the fruit, 
becoming dry and indurated, especially at the base, which is con- 
tinuous with the slightly swollen top of the pedicel. The perianth 
of Machilus is also persistent, its divisions are more or less reflexed 
near their non-indurated apex, and the pedicel is not thickened. 
The leaves are penniveined. Alseodaphne has a deciduous perianth ; 
so that below the fruit we only find the ill-developed receptacle 
surmounting a large swollen club-shaped pedicel, more or less 
fleshy and sprinkled with glands on the surface. In the Avo- 
cados (Persea; Fr., Avocatier) the perianth persists nearly 
always, though not constantly, sometimes coming off with the 
receptacle itself. The pedicel is thickened more or less, but 
never so much as in Alseodaphne ; and the three inner divisions 
of the perianth are very often larger than the outer ones. This 
disproportion between the sepals and petals is still more marked 
in Nothaphebe, in certain species of which the former almost dis- 
appear. The pedicel is slightly thickened, and the perianth per- 
sists, without enlarging around the base of the fruit. It will be 
evident, from the slight importance of these characters, that we 
have here a very natural group, and that to make its study possible 
by subdivision, we are compelled to use other than well-marked 
features. 
Apollonias, whose flowers have the same organization as in Cinna- 
monum, is easily distinguished by its anthers possessing only two 
cells instead of four. The same number is also found in the three 
genera Hufelandia, Nesodaphne, and Haasia, which differ from 
Apollonia only in such characters as distinguish the other genera 
with quadrilocular anthers from Cinnamomum. In Beilschmiedia the 
‘ovary presents a new peculiarity: it is incompletely divided by a 
false septum into two cavities. 
In this series we also place two exceptional genera, Aiouea and 
Potameia. The former has two-celled stamens, as in the preceding 
genera; but the perianth is short in proportion to the receptacle ; 
