BOTANY. 107 
solid volatile oil, sublimed from the distillation of the wood of Camphora 
officinarum, a native of China and Japan. The cinnamon of commerce is 
the dried, inner bark from the young twigs of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, 
indigenous in Ceylon. ‘The ripe fruit yields an oil, known as cinnamon 
suet, and camphor is distilled from the roots. Cassia bark and buds are 
furnished by C. cassia. ‘The Avocado, or the alligator’s pear, is the fruit 
of Persea gratissima. Bebeeru-bark is obtained from Nectandra rodioei, a 
native of British Guiana. Its timber is used in ship-building, under the 
name of Green-heart. Well-known inhabitants of North America are 
Sassafras officinale (Laurus sassafras) or sassafras, and Benzoin odoriferum 
(L. benzoin) or spice-bush. The Victor’s Laurel of the ancients is the Laurus 
nobilis. 
Camphora officinarum (L. camphora), the camphor-tree (pl. 58, 59, fig. 
15, a-c). 
Cinnamomum zeylanicum (LL. cimnamomum), the cinnamon tree ( pl. 58, 59, 
fig. 16); c, bark; d, structure of the bark; e, perianth externally ; f, the 
same externally; g, stamen; h, pistil; 7, fruit; /, sexual apparatus; /, 
stamen. Fig. 16, b, bark of C. cassia. 
Laurus nobilis, the Victor’s Laurel (Mediterranean coast) (pl. 58, 59, fig. 
17); a, branch with flowers; b, umbel with male flowers; c, female flowers ; 
d, fruit; e, male flowers magnified; f, stamen; g, do. with two- to three- 
lobed valves; h, female flower magnified; 7, fruit partly in section; /, a 
cotyledon. 
Orprer 73. Beconiaczem, the Begonia Family. Flowers unisexual. 
Perianth colored, having usually four divisions in the male flowers, and five 
or eight in the female, some being smaller than others; estivation imbricate. 
Stamens 00, distinct, or united into a solid column; anthers collected in a 
head, dithecal, with a thick connective, and longitudinal dehiscence. Ovary 
adherent to the tube of the perianth, winged, three-celled, with three_pla- 
centas meeting in the axis; ovules 00, anatropal; stigmas three, sessile, 
two-lobed, somewhat spirally twisted. Fruit a membranous, triangular, 
winged capsule, dehiscing below in a loculicidal manner. Seeds 00, minute ; 
testa thin and reticulated; albumen 0; embryo oblong; radicle next the 
hilum. Semi-succulent herbaceous plants and undershrubs, with alternate 
oblique leaves, having large scarious stipules. They are sometimes called 
Elephant’s ear, from the form of the leaves. They are natives of warm 
countries, as the East and West Indies, and South America. The stomata on 
the lower side of the leaves of many of the species of Begonia are arranged 
in clusters, and exhibit a beautiful appearance under the microscope. ‘There 
are three genera and 159 known species. Example: Begonia. Plants of this 
genus are favorites with American horticulturists. 
OrpeR 74. PoLyeGonaces, the Buckwheat Family. Perianth inferior, 
divided, often colored; estivation imbricate. Stamens definite, inserted 
into the bottom of the perianth; anthers with longitudinal dehiscence. 
Ovary free, usually formed by three carpels, unilocular; ovule solitary, 
orthotropal; styles and stigmas equal to the carpels in number. Fruit a 
nut, usually triangular, naked or covered by the persistent perianth. Seed 
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