1300 



ARBORETUM AND FK UT1CETUM. 



PA R' 



11 09 



lo -JO in. in diameter, yet rarely exhi- 

 bits b regular form : its trunk is. gene- 

 rally crooked, and divided into several 

 thick limbs at Sit., 10ft., or 12 ft. from 

 the ground. In America, Miehaux tells 

 us, " upon old trunks the bark is thick, 

 and deeply furrowed; that of the young 

 branches, on the contrary, is smooth, 

 and of a beautiful green colour. The 

 leaves are about (5 in. long, alternate, 

 oval-acuminate, glaucous on the lower 

 surface, and evergreen. When bruised 

 they diffuse a strong odour, resembling 

 that of the sweet bay (Laurus nobilis), 

 and may, like those of that species, be employed in cookery." (Michx. North 

 Amcr. Si//., ii. p. 151.) The male flowers come out in long bunches from the 

 axils of the leaves ; and the female flowers in loose bunches on pretty long- 

 red peduncles. The berries are of a dark rich blue, in red cups, and they 

 grow two, and sometimes three, together. The red bay is found in the lower 

 part of Virginia, ami it continues in abundance throughout the maritime dis- 

 tricts of the Carolinas, Georgia, the two Floridas, and Lower Louisiana. 

 Mixed with the sweet bay (iaurus nobilis), tupelo (Nyssa bifldra), red 

 maple ( J'cer rubrum), and water oak (Quercus aquatica), it fills the broad 

 swamps which intersect the pine barrens. A cool and humid soil appears 

 essentia] to its growth; and it is remarked, that the farther south it grows, 

 the more vigorous and beautiful is its vegetation. It was discovered by 

 Catesby, and described and figured by him in his work on Carolina; Miller 

 cultivated it in 1739. In France, Plunder constituted it a genus, to which 

 he gave the name of Borbom'a in honour of Gaston de Bourbon, son of 

 Henry IV., and uncle of Louis XIV. In America, the wood of the red 

 bay is used for cabinet-making, as it is very strong, and of a beautiful rose- 

 colour, has a fine compact grain, and is susceptible of a brilliant polish, 

 having the appearance, as Catesby tells us, of watered satin. Before mahogany 

 became the reigning fashion in cabinet-making, Miehaux observes, the wood 

 of the red bay was commonly employed in the southern states of North 

 America by the cabinet-makers, who produced from it articles of furniture of 

 the highest decree of beauty ; but trees of the red bay are now no longer to 

 be found in North America of sufficient diameter for this purpose, and re- 

 course is had to mahogany, which is imported from St. Domingo at a moderate 

 price. It might also be employed in ship-building, and for other purposes of 

 construction, as it unites the properties of strength and durability ; but its 

 trunks are rarely found of sufficient dimensions to render it available for 

 these purposes. In England it is solely considered as an ornamental tree; 

 and as it is more tender than the common sweet bay, it is only suitable for 

 warm or sheltered situations, or for being placed against a wall. 



* S. /,. ( ' \ i j;sni/f\v// Michx. Catesby's Laurel, or Red Buy. 



1,1, „ttji. nli ,n Mirlix. j |. j'.or. Amcr., 1. p. 244*. : Spreng. Syst, 2. p. 2(i5. ; Pursh Fl. Amcr., Sept. 1., 



I I , t. 28. 



1. 1 .ivcs ovate-lanceolate. glossy. Flower* in a terminal panicle. Fruit 

 An evergreen hliruh, a native of the sea-coast of dcorgia and Ca- 

 rolina, Introduced in 1820, anil flowering in May. The flowers are white, and the berries black, 

 i' by red calyxes, on thick rct\ peduncles. We bave not seen the plant. 



• 1. /,. iaaREO \ 'i \ Sims. Hie groupedrfowered Laurel, or Bay, 



Bo4 Mat'., t. 2407. 

 Bot, Mag., » 2407. \ and oui fig, 1170. 

 (/,„, y, ; i ovate-acuminate, 3-nerved, glaucous beneath. Flowers 



upyn , ; t net pedicels, di noted in axillary groups, that are attended at the base with scaly, 

 ', im in Bot. Mag., I 2487.) An evergreen shrub, a native of China, 



