LAUKEL FASriLY. 



285 



iuuer ones. Styles 3, short ; stigmas large, multifid. Alcene triquetrous, 

 winged at the angles, surrounded at base by the T» itbered calyx. Her- 

 baceous : leaves cbieiiY radical, large : flowers fasciculate, racemose-panic 

 :iiate. 



1. E. EnAPO.x'Ticor, Ait. Leaves cordate-ovate, ratber obtuse, — the 

 sinus at base dilated ; petioles "with a shallow channel above, rounded at 

 the edges. 



Ehapoxtic Eheoi. Ehubarb. Pie Ehubarb. 



Root perennial, tuberous, large, reddist-'brown, yellow within. Stem 3-5 feet liigh, 

 stout, striate-sulcate, smoottiish, fistular, panicuiately branched at summit. Radical 

 leaver becoming very large (IS inches to 2 feet long), smoothish above, pubescent on the 

 vein?, beneath; petiole? thick and succulent, 4-8 or 10 inches long, — the stem-leaves 

 Braaller, and petioles shorter, as they ascend ; stipules large, membranaceous, sheathing. 

 Flowers in large terminal racemose panicles, — Wic pedicels fasciculate, slender, one-third 

 to half an inch long, articulated near the middle. Sepals greenish, with white margins, — 

 the cuter ones rather narrow. Stigmas large, multifid, reflexed. 



Gardens : cultivated. Native of Scythia. J'Z. May. J^r. July -August. 



Chs. Frequently cultivated for the sake of its fleshy acid petioles — 

 which are used by the pastry cook, in early spring, as a substitute for 

 fruit, in making pies. The root of other species affords the medicinal 

 Ehubarb, and this species is cultivated in England for its roots, which 

 form an inferior kind of the drug. 



Order LXI. LAUEA'CE^. (Laurel Family.) 



Aroriatic trf'^ or sTinths with alternate simple leava, without stipules, and clustered often 

 polyg?>.mo-:i-: - r' ■crs; caZ^j;of 4-6 colored sepals, imbricated in two rows in the 

 bnd ; stain ~".al!y more numerous than the sepals ; anthers 2-4-ccllcd, open- 



ing by upl .t valves ; sti/le single ; fruit a 1-seeded berry or drupe. Seed sus- 



pended, with') It nV:i,i:im. 



The tropical plavits of this Order are highly interesting, — affording Cinnamon, Cassica 

 and Camphor ; and also tliat species of Laurus (L. nobilis, L.) of which the ancients 

 formed their Laurel wreaths or crowns. The species in the United States are of less im- 

 portar.ce. 



1. SAS'SAFEAS, Nees. Sassafras. 



[Altered from Salsaf ras, the Spanish name.] 



Flcvirrs dioecious. Sepals 6, membranaceous, united at base, persistent. 

 Sta:m. Fl. Stamens 9, in three series, all fertile, — the 3 innermost with 

 a pair of stipitate glands at base ; anthers introrse, linear, 4-celled. 

 Pistillate Fl. Stamens 6, all sterile. Berry on a thickened clavate 

 fleshly pedicel. Trees with leaves often lobed but the margins entire, 

 and greenish yellow flowers in corymbose racemes, appearing with the 

 leaves. 



1. S. ofScina'le, Nees. Leaves ovate or some of them 3-lobed and 

 ctLueate at base ; drupe dark blue ; peduncle purple. 



T/fFicix.^ Sassafras. Sassafras. 



