LAURACEiE. 



551 



small tree, so celebrated 

 by the poets, and so 

 much prized by the mo- 

 derns for the fragrance 

 and the beauty of its fo- 

 liage, affords several pro- 

 ducts, which at one time 

 had considerable reputa- 

 tion as medicinal agents, 

 but are now seldom em- 

 ployed, either in England 

 or this country. The 

 leaves, which are fra- 

 grant, and have an aro- 

 matic, bitter taste, owe 

 these properties to the 

 presence of a yellowish 

 volatile oil. The ber- 

 ries, by pressure, like- 

 wise afford a concrete 

 oil, of a greenish colour, 

 .containing sufficient of 

 the aromatic volatile oil 

 to give it an agreeable 

 fragrance. All these parts 

 and their products have 

 stimulating and slightly 

 narcotic properties, but 

 have gone out of use. 



Fiff. 236. 



L. nobilis. 



1. Umbel. 2. Single flower. 3. Dehiscence of anther, 

 and Style. 5. Section of Seed. 



4. Ovary 



Sassafras. — Nees. 



Dioecious, calyx 6-parted, membranous ; segments equal, permanent at base. Male : 

 Fertile stamens 9, in 3 rows, the 3 inner with distinct glands at the base ; anthers linear, 

 4-celled, introrse. .Female: stamens as many or fewer than in the male, sterile, the 

 inner often confluent. Fruit succulent, placed on the thick fleshy apex of the peduncle, 

 within the permanent base of the calyx. 



A small genus, separated by Nees from Laurus, and differing from it in 

 many important characters. The flowers are yellow, and precede the leaves, 

 which latter are deciduous. The species are peculiar to America and the 

 East Indies. 



S. officinale, Nees. — Leaves variable in form, downy beneath. Racemes with subu- 

 late deciduous bracts. 



Nees, Laurin. 488 ; Nees and Esen., PI. Med. t. 131 ; Lindley, Fl. Med. 

 338 ; Ijxurus sassafras. Linn., Sp. PI. 530 ; Mich., Fl. Am. Bor., i. 244 ; 

 Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 142. 



Common Name. — Sassafras. 



Foreign Names. — Sassafras, Fr., Ger. ; Sassafrasso, It. 



Description. — A small tree with a rough, deeply furrowed, grayish bark. The leaves 

 are alternate, petiolate, bright-green, and smooth above, finely downy beneath, especially 

 when young, very variable in form, from ovate and entire to three-lobed, all however, 

 tapering to the base. The flowers, which appear before the leaves, are of a pale, greenish- 



