31*2 L A U 
many branches. Leaves near three inches long, and an 
inch and a half broad, fmooth on their upper furface, but 
with many tranfverfe veins on their under fide. Flowers 
of a white herbaceous colour, with fix ftamina in each. 
Native of Virginia; whence it was fent by Banifterto 
Compton bilhop of London, and cultivated in his garden 
at Fulham in 1688, by Mr. George London. This tree 
has been confounded with the true benzoin-tree, for which 
fee Styrax benzoin. 
26. Laurus fa ha fra s, the fiiffafras-tree: leaves entire, 
and three-lobed ; (fee Botany Plate V. fig. 99.) The 
faffafras-tree is commonly rather a Ihrub, leldom riling 
more than eight or ten feet high. It fometiir.es however 
grows into a large tree. The.leaves are of different (liapes 
and lizes; fome oval and entire, about four inches long 
and three broad ; others are deeply divided into three 
lobes; thefe are fix inches long, and as much in breadth 
from the extremity of the two outfide lobes; they are 
placed alternately on pretty long footftalks, and are of a 
lucid green ; they fall off early in the autumn, and in 
the fpring, i'oon after the leaves begin to come out, the 
flowers appear juft below them, on ftender peduncles, each 
-fuftaining three or four final), yellow, or greenifh-white, 
flowers, which have live oval concave petals, and eight 
ftamina in the male flowers, which are upon different 
plants from the hermaphrodite flowers. Thefe are fuc- 
ceeded by an ova! berry, which, when ripe, is blue. 
Ehret, in the year 1735, obferved the male flowers in the 
•nurfer.y of Mr. Chriftopher Gray at Fulham to have ufu- 
ally nine ftamens, with glands between them uncertain in 
their number. Thefe flowers had a Ample ftyle, a ftigma 
variously constructed, and no germ. He alfo examined 
■the female flowers in Mr. James Gordon’s nurfery at Mile- 
end, and found the petals fmaller, fix ftamens, with an 
uncertain number of glands, from three or four to nine, 
Iryle Ample, crowned with its ftigma, and a germ. From 
this defeription it appears that the two forts of flowers 
fnould have been called imperfect hermaphrodites, rather 
than male and female. 
Catefby deferibes the faffafras as a fmall tree, the trunk 
ufually not a foot thick. The leaves divided into three 
lobes by very deep incifures. In March, bunches of 
fmall five-petalled flowers come forth, Succeeded by ber¬ 
ries, in fize and Shape not unlike tliofe of the bay-tree, 
hanging on red footftalks, with a red calyx, refembling 
that of an acorn ; they are at firft green, and, when ripe, 
blue. This tree is deferibed at full length in the fecond 
volume of Nova Acfa Nat. Cur. by Trew, who lias there 
■given an ample account of its natural hiftory. He ob¬ 
serves, that the male flowers have eight or nine ftamens, 
and fometiines as many as thirteen, and fix glands ; two 
to each inner filament; the female or rather hermaphro¬ 
dite flowers only four ftamens without any glands. Na¬ 
tive of almoft all America, commonly in a fandy foil, ne¬ 
ver in fwamps. It was alfo obferved by Loureiro in the 
north of Cochin-china near Tonquin. It has withftood 
the cold of feveral winters at Mr. Collinfon’s at Peckham, 
Mr. Bacon’s at Hoxton, Mr. Gray’s at Fulham, Mr. 
■Gordon’s at Mile-end, &c. &c. and was cultivated before 
1633, by Mr. Wiimot, at Bow. 
The wood of this tree, which is of a light and fpongy 
texture, has a fragrant fmell, and a fweetifl) aromatic 
tafte, and, with the bark, is much ufed in the materia 
medica. It gives out its virtues both to fpirit and water, 
but moft readily to the former. Saffafras is ufed as a mild 
corroborant, diaphoretic, and fweetener, in fcorbutic, ve¬ 
nereal, cachetic, and catarrhal, diforders. Infufions made 
in water from the cortical or woody part rafped or fhaved, 
are commonly drunk as a tea ; and this, in fome confti- 
tutions, from its fragrance, is laid to affebt the head at 
flrft; which inconvenience ceafes on continuing its life a 
little time. It is made an ingredient in feveral diet-drinks, 
.both empyrical and fuch as are ufed in regular pra&ice. 
A decoction of faffafras with fugar was fold in coffee- 
Jncufes at the end of the laft century, under the name of 
R U S. 
bochct. There has been a fliop in Fleet-ftreet for the fale 
of it under the name of faloop, for feventy years paft. 
The bark has been fubftituted in America for fpice. It 
is faid that bedfteads made of the wood will never be in- 
fefted with bugs. Loureiro remarks, that it is very pro¬ 
per for making cabinets in hot climates, on the fame ac¬ 
count, becaufethe fmell repels infects. Willdenow how¬ 
ever doubts whether the Cochin-cliinefe faffafras be the 
fame with the American. 
27. Laurus involucrata, or invclucred bay: leaves obo- 
vate, umbels involucred. Native of Tranquebar in the 
Eaft Indies, whence it was fent by Koenig. It is the narra 
of the Telingas, and is thus deferibed by Dr. Roxburgh : 
Trunk erect; bark brown on the trunk and larger branches; 
on the fmall, light-aflh coloured and fmooth; leaves lcat- 
tered, petioled, broad-lanced, attenuated into a long flen- 
der waved point, three-nerved, (nerves united above the 
bafe, as in cinnamomum, and vanifli a little above the 
middle of the leaf,) entire, fmooth, above fliining, below 
whitifh, four to five inches long, and one to one and a 
half broad. When they firft appear, they are covered with 
a moft beautiful foft fatin-like yellowiflx filver down. Na¬ 
tive of the tops of mountains on the coaft of Coroman¬ 
del, where it grows to a fmall tree of about twenty-four or 
thirty feet in height, branches included; flowers during 
the cold leafon : berries ripe in April. This tree ha* 
much the appearance of L. camphora ; every part of it fijiells 
ftrongly of camphor, the roots and berries exceedingly fo, 
and are very acrid. It does appear to yield any fort of 
gum or refln ; nor do the natives make any other ufe of 
it, than occasionally for fire-wood ; except that the frefh 
bark well bruifed, and mixed with pepper, is by the hill- 
people employed to cure wounds. 
28. Laurus myrrha, or myrrh-laurel : leaves three- 
nerved, ovate: with a long point; flowers heaped, feflile, 
axillary. This is a fmall tree, five feet high, very much 
branched, with an unarmed twifted trunk. Flowers 
white. The root is warm, diuretic, emmenagogue, anti- 
putredinous, and anthelmintic. A red oil exprefl'ed from 
the berries ; and, having the fmell and tafte of the plant, 
is ufed by the natives in the itch, wounds, puftules, and 
putrid ulcers, againft worms and infedfts that attack the 
human body. Loureiro fufpeiffs that this may be the 
plant which affords the true myrrh. Native of Cochin- 
china. Li/bon Tranf. 
29. Laurus polyadelpha, or polyadelphous laurel: leaves 
obfeurely three-nerved, lanceolate; flowers axillary, po¬ 
lyadelphous. 30. Laurus curvifolia, or curve-leaved lau¬ 
rel : leaves obfeurely three-nerved, oblong, curved in¬ 
wards ; racemes fmall, fubterminating. Thefe are largs 
trees with fpreading branches; native of Cochin-china in 
mountain-woods ; and have a great affinity with the Oco- 
tea guianenjis of Aublet, and the Poroftema of Schre- 
ber. 
31. Laurus cubeba, or white laurel : leaves nervelefs, 
veinlefs, lanceolate; flowers heaped, peduncled. This is 
a middle-fized and very branching tree; native of Cochin- 
china, and probably alfo of China. The berries are cor¬ 
roborant, cephalic, ftomachic, and carminative; a decoc¬ 
tion of them is of fervice in the vertigo, hyfterics, pally, 
&c. the bark has the fame qualities, but in an inferior- 
degree. The natives ufe the frefli berries as a fauce for 
fiHi ; the fmell is fragrant, the tafte aromatic and warm ; 
they have the fize, colour, and form, of black pepper; and, 
being faftened to a long flender peduncle, are not unaptly 
called piper caudatum, or tailed pepper. The fruit having 
the form, fize, and quality, of the cubeb, Loureiro fup- 
pofes this to be,the tree which produces it: but the cu¬ 
beb is reprefented as a climbing plant, and the younger 
Linnaeus decides that it is a fpecies of pepper. 
32. Laurus pilofa, or hairy laurel: leaves nervelefs, ob¬ 
long, hairy ; racemes wide, terminating. This is a large 
tree with fpreading branches. Leaves acuminate, quite 
entire, fcattered, petioled, five inches long. Flowers po¬ 
lygamous, greenifh yeliow. Native of mountain-woods 
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