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and the mountains of Persia. Its introduction here 
cannot be precisely ascertained; but it was some time be¬ 
fore the year 1629, as Parkinson mentions having had 
a cutting presented to him by Master James Cole, from 
“a fair tree,” cultivated in his own garden with much 
care, and defended from the winter’s severity by throw¬ 
ing a blanket over the top of it. Now, however, it is 
so entirely naturalised, that it bears all the changes of 
our climate without injury, produces its beautiful spikes 
of white sweet-scented flowers in April or May, and its 
large black berries in September or October: they are 
seldom, indeed, fully ripe till the latter month. In 
general, it has more the character of a shrub than a tree; 
but it sometimes grows to a considerable size, as, for 
instance, at Stanmore, near Brighton, the seat of the 
Earl of Chichester, where there is a hedge of laurel 
about 220 feet in length, and the trees which compose 
it have grown to the height of thirty feet. Linnaeus 
makes the laurel one of a very comprehensive genus, 
classing under the title Prunus the various kinds of 
plums, cherries, and apricots; whilst Miller separates 
them into four divisions. Cheering our winter months 
with its lively and rather warm green leaves (a pleasant 
contrast to the bluish tint common to most evergreens), 
it is entitled to our gratitude, and it certainly is greeted 
