318 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
cies were known to Linneus, all belonging to the genus Laurus, 
but the family now contains more than four hundred species, 
divided into more than thirty genera, of which the greater 
part are natives of regions between the tropics; some few are 
found in the northern temperate zone; and Massachusetts 
is, in this country, very nearly their northern limit. All are 
remarkable for their warm, stimulating, aromatic proper- 
ties, owing, usually, to essential oils, which abound in their 
bark and leaves. Several species, in different eastern lands, 
yield the different sorts of cinnamon and cassia, the genuine 
being the produce of varieties of the Cinnamomum zeylanicumr. 
Camphor is extracted from the roots of the Camphora officind- 
rum, by boiling. It is also found, in ample or minute propor- 
tion, in the wood of the trunk or root of many other spccics. 
The delicious Avocado pear, the aguacate of the Spaniards, 
often called by the English the Alligator pear, and said to be 
worth a voyage from Europe to the West Indies to taste, is 
produced by a tree of this family, the Pérsea gratissima. The 
wood of many of the species, found in southeastern Asia, re- 
tains the pleasant camphoretted odor many years, and is sought 
for as the material for the finishing and furniture of oriental 
dwellings; as in beauty, hardness and durableness, it some- 
times vies with mahogany. The sweet-wood timber of Jamaica, 
and many valuable woods of South America are produced by 
trees of this family. The botanical name is derived from the 
only plant of the family indigenous to Europe, the bay tree, 
Laurus nobilis, the laurel of the ancients, the emblem of victory 
and of clemency, and sacred to their god Apollo. Victorious 
generals were crowned with a wreath of bay leaves, an honor 
which, in later times, has been transferred to distinguished 
poets, thence called poets laureate. ‘The name of baccalaureate 
degree, that of bachelor of arts, seems to have had a similar 
origin from baeca laurea, the laurel berry. 
The leaves are mostly entire, and usually coriaceous, smooth 
and shining. The flower-cup is of one piece, with four or six 
divisions arranged in two rows, and with a fleshy disk occupy- 
ing its centre. The flowers are sometimes perfect; sometimes 
fertile and sterile flowers are on different plants, or on the same. 
