LAUREL. 



PRUNUS. 



AMYGDALEi^E,. ICOSANDRIA MONOSYNIA. 



The word Prunus is supposed to be of Asiatic origin. — French^ 

 laurier-cerise ; Italian, lauro-regio. 



The Laurel, commonly so called, Prunus lauro-ce- 

 rasus, is too well known to need description : it is in- 

 cluded in the same genus with the cherry-tree, and, in 

 Johnson''s edition of Gerarde's Herbal, is called the 

 Cherry-bay, the translation of its present specific name. 

 Johnson says, " it was sent to Clusius from Constan- 

 tinople by the name of Trabison Curmasi, or the Date or 

 Trebisond ; but it hath no affinity with the date. Clu- 

 sius, and most since, call it fitly Lauro-cerasus, or Cera- 

 sus folio laurino. It is now got into many of our choice 

 English gardens, where it is well respected for the beauty 

 of the leaves, and their lasting or continual greenness. 

 The fruit is good to be eaten, of a sweet and pleasant j 

 taste, with a stone in it like a cherry."" 



This tree is a native of the Levant, Caucasus, the 

 mountains of Persia, and the Crimea. Clusius received 

 it in the year 1576, from David Ungnad, then ambas- 

 sador of Germany at Constantinople, with some other 

 rare trees and shrubs, all of which are said to have pe- 

 rished by the severity of the weather, and the carelessness 

 of those who brought them, with the exception of this 

 Laurel and a horse-chestnut. Clusius says, indeed, that 

 the Laurel was almost dead ; he put it into a stove 



