CLASS F.NNEANDRIA. 
161 
CLASS IX.— ENNEANDRIA. 
Order Monogynia. 
This is also a very small class. In the first 
Order we find the genus Laurus. which in- 
cludes the cinnamon, bay, sassafras, cam- 
phor, spice-bush, &c. The bay {Laurus no- 
bills) is a native of Italy ; the Romans consi- 
dered it a favourite of the Muses. The em- 
peror Tiberius wore it not only as a triumphal 
crown, but as a protection against thunder ; 
it being thought that Jupiter had a particular 
regard for the plant. The laurel, as well as 
the olive, was considered as an emblem of 
peace ; it was sometimes called laurus pad- 
fera^ the peace-bearing laurel. Branches of 
laurel carried among contending armies, were 
considered as a signal for the cessation of 
arms. Poets crowned with laurel, were called 
laureates. Camphor is the produce of the Laurus camphora^ a large 
tree which grows in Japan. " The Laurus cinnamomum is a tree 
which grows to the height of twenty feet ; it sends out numerous 
oranches crowned with a smooth bark. The leaves are of a bright 
green, standing in opposite pairs. The petals are six, of a greenish 
white colour. The fruit is a pulpy pericarp enclosing a nut. This 
tree is a native of Ceylon, where it grows very common in woods 
and hedges. The imported cinnamon is the inner bark (liber) of 
the tree ; it is remarkable that the leaves, fruit, and root, all yield oil 
of very different qualities. That produced from the leaves is called 
the oil of doves; that obtained from the fruit is of a thick consist- 
ence, very fragrant, and is made into candles for the use of the king; 
the bark of the roots affords an aromatic oil, called the oil of cam- 
phor. The Sassafras-tree (Laurus sassafras) is a native American 
plant; when first introduced into Europe, it sold for a great price, 
the oil being highly valued for medicinal uses. It grows on the bor- 
ders of streams and in woods ; it is often no larger than a shrub ; 
its flowers are yellow ; its fruit, blue-berries. The Laurus benzoin^ 
called Spice-bush, has scarlet berries, and is an aromatic plant."* 
Fig. 133, a,t represents a flower of the Butomas, (flowering rush ;) 
the petals are six ; they are ovate. The umbellatus is the only spe- 
cies known ; the flowers grow in rose-coloured umbels. It is found 
in wet grounds, and near the margin of lakes and ponds. 
Order Trigynia. 
The third Order presents us with but one genus; but this renders 
the order important ; it is the Rhubarb, (Rheum.) In one species, the 
Rheum tartaricum, the leaves are acid, and on this account, when 
young, they are used for making pies. This plant is a native of Tar- 
tary, but now common in our gardens. The Rhiivm palmatum is the 
plant which produces the medicinal rhubarb ; this is obtained from 
the roots, which are thick, fleshy, and yellow. This plant is cultiva- 
ted in England, and is remarkable for the rapidity of its growth. An 
Engfish writer,]: asserts that its stem has been known to grow more 
than eleven feet in three months ; its leaves are five feet in circum- 
♦ Woodville. 
t See also Appendix, Plate viii. Fig. 4. 
t Woodville. 
Class Enneandria — Different species of the genus Laurus^-Describe the different 
rscies of Laurus— Butomas— What genus is found in the order Trigynia 1 
14* 
