The Laurestine. 249 



t ( . s Laurestine, is an exotic, as Tyas remarks, one of the 



prettiest of evergreen shrubs, and the gift of Spain to our highly 

 favored land. The leaves are ovate, oblong, entire. The divi- 

 sions of the veins and the young branches are glandular. Nei- 

 ther the hot breath of summer, nor the cold of winter, can rob it 

 of its charms ; but to preserve it we must tend it with assidu- 

 ous care. The symbol of a constant and delicate friendship, it 

 ever seeks to please, yet dies if neglected. In floral language it 

 js the emblem of the sentence, I die if neglected. The whole 

 <renus almost without exception, consists of ornamental shrubs ; 

 most of our species frequent the woods, where they may be seen 

 in flower, presenting a delicate white aspect, from May to the 

 early part of July. They belong to the natural order Caprifo- 

 lacerc, or Honeysuckle tribe. As Lindley remarks, at first sight 

 these plants seem to be entirely unlike the Honeysuckle, but a 

 careful study of their structure, remembering the essential cha- 

 racteristics, will leave no doubt of their affinity. In fact, were 

 they twining it would never be doubted. In North America 

 there grows a plant of this tribe with broad leaves, clusters of 

 flowers sitting close to their bosom, followed by yellow berries, 

 called Triosteum Perfoliatum, the seeds of which have proved 

 the best of all substitutes for coffee, which is also allied to the 

 same order. This plant, Coffea Arabica, the infusion of whose 

 seeds forms the beverage which is probably the most universally 

 oratei'ul of all that the luxury of man has prepared, belongs to a 

 very extensive natural order, almost confined to the warmer parts 

 of the world, comprehending the meanest weeds and the most 

 noble flowering trees, obscure herbs with blossoms that it almost 

 requires a microscope, to detect, and bushes, the scarlet corollas 

 of whose flowers are many inches long, and producing drugs in- 

 valuable to man for their important medicinal properties ; ipecac, 

 coffee, and various kinds of fever barks, especially those of Peru, 

 are among its useful products. Coffee itself consists of the seeds 

 of the plant divested of their skin, and of a dark purple fleshy 

 rind that envelopes them. They are formed almost entirely of 

 albumen, at the base of which a very small embryo is placed. 

 It is very probable that all other plants of either the honeysuckle 

 or coffee tribes would answer the purpose equally well, provided 

 their seeds were large enough, and their albumen of a hard, horny 

 texture. 



