494 BOTANY. 



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

 into boxes of figs to give tbem a factitious flavor. (Figs. 398-403.) 



JJmbdlularia Califoi-nica [Tetranthera Califonica), the California 

 Laurel, resembles the preceding, aud 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 Oinna- 

 momum Zeylanieum, a small tree of Ceylon ; Cassia Bark and Cassia 

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

 from the wood of G. Gamplwra, 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. 



Nectandra Rodiei, the Greenheart Tree of Guiana, is a large tree 

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

 highly valued in naval constructions. 



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

 monadelphous stumens, and an erect seed containing endosperm. The 

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

 dian region. They all belong to the genus Myris'ica. 



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

 tains a height of six to nine metres (30 to 30 ft.; ; 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. 403-4). 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 Xouimiacese. — Aromatic trees or shrubs of the tropics and 

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

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

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

 (Laurelia IVovm Zelandiae), are large trees thirty to forty-five metres 

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



579.— Cohort XI. Chenopodiales. Monoclinous (rarely 

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

 single seed containing endosperm. 



Order Paronychieas.— 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 Basellacese. — Herbaceous, often climl)ing plants of the 

 tropics. One species from South America {Bouasingaultia iaselloides) 



