332 
ENNEANDRIA. 
Class IX. 
Class IX. — ENNEANDRIA. 9 Stamens. 
One of the smallest of the Linnean classes ; containing, however, three important genera ; the Laurel, famous 
for the valuable spices it produces, and for the beautiful foliage of its insipid species ; the Cashew nut, well 
known at the tables of the great or luxurious ; and the Rhubarb, one of the most valuable of medicines. 
The class itself is extremely unnatural, and the assemblage of genera most incongruous. 
Order 1. MONOGYNIA. 9 Stamens. 1 Style. 
934!. Laurus. Cal. 4-6-parted. Nect. 3 glands, with 2 bristles surrounding the ovary. Anthers opening 
transversely. Valves hinged to the upper side. 
MONOGYNIA. 
934. LAU'RUS. W. 
5640 Cinnamomum W. 
5641 Cassia W. 
5642 Malabatrum P. S. 
5643 camphora JV. 
5644 chloroxylon fV. 
5645 aggregata Sims. 
5646 nobilis^ TV. 
j3 unduldta 
y salicifolia 
5647 Culilaban L. 
Laurel. 
Cinnamon 
Bastard- Cinn. 
tall 
Campliire-tree 
Cogwood-tree 
glaucous 
Sweet-Bay 
wave-leaved 
willow-leaved 
Culilaban 
5 Dm 20 jn.s 
i □ m 50 my.s 
1 □ or 30 
$ l_J m 20 
1 □ tm 60 
as UJ or 3 
± or 15 
■Si or 4 _ _ 
ifit or 6 ap.my Y.w 
1 □ or 20 ... G.Y 
Laurince^ Sp. 18— 68. 
Ceylon 
E. Indies 
E. Indies 
Japan 
Jamaica 
China 
Italy 
mr.jn 
ja.f' 
G.v 
W 
G.Y 
G.w 
G.Y 
ap.my Y.w 
ap.my Y.w 
1763. 
1768. 
1805. 
1727. 
1778. 
1806. 
1561. 
E. Indies 1823. 
Bot. rep. 596 
Bot. mag. 1636 
Rhe. mal. 5. t. 53 
Jac. col. 4. t.3. f.2 
Bro.jam. t. 7. fl 
Bot. mag. 2497 
Zorn. ic. 52 
Rumph. 2. 1. 14 
History, Use, Propagation, Culture, 
934. Laitrm. From the Celtic blaur (the b is dropped in pronunciation, laur), green. The laurel is perpe- 
tually green. This genus contains several important spice or drug-bearing trees, besides the poetical laurel and 
a fruit tree. 
L Cinnamomum {qu. China Amomum) has a smooth ash-colored bark, a short erect trunk, and wide 
spreading branches, which form an elegant head. The leaves are of a bright green above, pale beneath, and 
white veined ; the flowers are in panicles, have no shew, and are inodorous, or perhaps somewhat foetid ; the 
fruit is the size of a middling olive, soft, insipid, and of a deep blue ; it encloses a nut, the kernel of which 
germinates soon after it falls, and therefore cannot easily be transported to a distance. The timber is white, 
and not very solid ; the root is thick and branching, and exudes abundance of camphor. The inner bark forms 
the cinnamon of commerce. There are many varieties, and probably some of them species, especially in the 
island of Ceylon, but only four are said to be barked. Besides Ceylon, the tree grows plentifully in Malabar, 
Cochin China, Sumatra, and the Eastern islands. It has been cultivated in the Brazils, the Mauritius, India, 
Jamaica, and other places. The soil in which it thrives best is nearly pure quartz sand. That of the cinna- 
mon garden near Colombo in Ceylon, was found by Dr. Davy to consist of 98-5 of silicious sand, and of I'D 
only of vegetable matter in 100 parts. " The garden is nearly on a level with the lake of Colombo ; its situ- 
ation is sheltered ; the climate is remarkably damp j showers are frequent, and the temperature is high and 
uncommonly equable." {Davy^s Ceylon, ^p. 39.) 
The trees that grow in the valleys, in a white sandy soil, are fit to be barked when four or five years old, but 
those in a wet soil or in shady places, require to be seven or eight years of age. The bark is good for nothing if 
the tree be older than eighteen years. The tree was formerly propagated by a species of pigeon that ate the 
fruit and voided the seed ; but since Falck, one of the Dutch governors, about the middle of the eighteenth 
century, raised it from berries sown in his garden, it has been regularly cultivated. 
The barking commences early in May, and continues until late in October. Branches of thiee years old are 
selected, and topped off with a pruning knife or bill hook. To remove the bark a longitudinal incision is made 
through it on both sides of the shoot, so that it can be gradually loosened and taken off entire, forming hollow 
cylinders. The bark in this state, tied up in bundles, is allowed to remain for twenty-four hours, by which a 
fermentation is produced that facilitates the separation of the epidermis, which, with the green pulpy matter 
under it, is carefully scraped off The bark now soon dries, contracts, and assumes the quilled form, after 
which the smaller pieces are put within the larger. The cinnamon, when dry, is tied up in bundles of 30 lbs. 
weight, and carried to the Government store-house, where the quality is determined by inspection of the 
bundles. It was formerly chewed for this purpose ; and the surgeons who used to be thus employed, had their 
