654 CLXXXVII. LAUEmE^. 



upwards by a longitudinal persistent valvule. Ovary free (or very rarely adherent), 

 1-celled; style simple, rather stout, short; stigma obtuse, sub-capitate or discoid, 

 obscurely 2-3-lobed; ovule solitary (very rarely 2), pendulous from the top of the 

 cell, anatropous. Peuit a berry, rarely a drupe, or dry, globose or ellipsoid, usually 

 seated on the thickened pedicel, or girt at its base by or included in' the calyx- tube. 

 Seed inverted, exalbuminous ; testa membranous. Embkto straight ; cotyledons 

 large, plano-convex (coiled in Chjrocarpem), peltate near the base, fleshy, oily ; radicle 

 very short, superior. 



[The following sub-orders and tribes are those of Meissner in De CandoUe's 

 ' Prodromus : ' — 



Sub-order I. Laubine^ Vee^s. Frutescent ai» arboresoent leafy plants. Frait superior, 

 or very rarely inferior (^Agaihophyllum). Cotyledons plano-convex. Anthers 2-celled or 4- 

 locellate. 



Tribe I. Peeseace^. — Flowers -usually ^ , S-merous. Calyx 6-lobed ; stamens 9, 3 inner 

 extrorse, 2-glandular; stamiuodes 3, stipitate, Kirely 0. — Leaves evergreen; buds usually 

 naked. Gmnamomum, Alseodaphne, Phoehe, Machilus, *Persea, Haasia, Beilsohmiedia, Boldoa, 

 Nesodaphne, &c. 



Teibe II. Cetptocaet^, — Flowers usually 3, rarely 4-nierous. Stamens 9, 6, 3, rarely 

 4 ; staminodes frequently obsolete. Fruit enclosed in tbe calyx-tube. — Leaves evergreen, buds 

 not scaly. Gryptooarya, Aiouea, Acrodiclidiwn, Aydendron, MespilodapJine, &c, 



Tkibe III. OBEODAPHNEiE. — Flowers usually dioecious, 3-merous. Stamens 9, rarely 3, 

 3 innermost 2-glandular ; staminodes or obsolete. Berry naked or girt at the base by the 

 oalyx-tube. Oreodaphne, Nectandra, *Sassafr<n3, Oaeppertia, &c. 



Teibe IV. Lits^aoe*. — Flowers usually dioecious, 6- rarely 4-merous. Anthers all 

 introrse ; staminodes or obsolete. Tetmnthera, Gylicodaphne, Aotvnodapjine, Litscea, Daph- 

 nidium, *Laurus, Aperula, Lindera, (fee. 



Sub-order II. Cassyxhe^. Parasitic herbs with filiform twining stem, adhering by 

 suckers to living plants. Leaves replaced by scales, Ovary included in the calyx-tube. 

 Anthers 2-celled. Gassytha. 



Sub-order III. Gteocaepbj!.' — Frutegcent or arborescent erect or climbing leafy plants. 

 Fruit inferior. Cotyledons spirally coiled around the gemmule. Anthers 2-celled. Gyro- 

 oa/rpus, Sparattantheliwn, Illigera.—r-'Ex\.'] 



LaurmecB form a very natural family, which, in its woody stem, its usually coriaceous evergreen and 

 exstipulate leaves, its often unisexual flowers, simple perianth, perigynous stamens, 1-celled and l-ovuled 

 ovary, presents an affinity with Atherospermeee and ThymelecB; the latter also resemble it in the 

 pendulous ovule, the exalbuminous seed, and the fleshy cotyledons, but differ in the dehiscence of the 

 anthers. Atherospermem have, like Lauriv,e<e, anthers opening by ascending valvules, but the pistil is 

 polycarpellary, the ovule is erect, and the embryo minute at the base of a fleshy albumen. 



Laurine<B grow especially in tropical regions, where they form forests on cool mountains [and in hot 

 valleys, plains, &c.], but a few are found in North America [South Africa, Austi'alia], the Canaiies, and 

 Mediterranean Europe; they are absent from North Asia [except Japan and China] and the tropical 

 African continent. Cassytha is met with in South Africa [India], and all hot regions of the southern 

 hemisphere. 



Laurmece secrete a pungent volatile oil in the bark and glands of the leaves and flowers. This oil 



' See CemhretacetB, p. 420. — En. 



