Flora Medica

CAMPHORA.685. C. officinarum Nees Laurin. 88. Cinnamomum CamphoraNees and Eberm. handb. ii. 430. pi. med. 127. LaurusCamphora Linn. Mat. med. p. 107. Laurus camphorifera Kcempf.amcen. p. 770. t. 771. Japan, and China ; cultivated in most ofthe warm parts of the world.A tree with lax smooth branches. Leaves somewhat coriaceous,bright green and shining above, paler beneath ;with a sunken gland atthe axils of the principal veins, projecting at the upper side, openingby an oval pore beneath. Petioles from 1 inch to 1 inch long,slender, smooth. Panicles axillary and terminal, corymbose, naked.Flowers smooth on the outside. Chinese Camphoris obtained fromthe wood, branches and leaves, by means of dry distillation. It is akind of Stearoptine remaining after the Elaeoptene or aethereal oil ofthe live tree is evaporated. (Nees.) The Camphor of commerce ischiefly produced in the island of Formosa, and brought by the Chinchewjunks in very large quantities to Canton, whence foreign marketsare supplied. Reeves in Med. hot. trans. 1828. p. 26.PERSEA.Hermaphrodite ; a few flowers unisexual. Calyx deeply 6-parted, perishing down to the base. Fertile stamens 9, in 3 rows ;the 3 inner with 2 globose glands at the base ; filaments filiform,villous ;anthers oblong, 4-celled, the 6 outer turned inwards,the inner turned outwards. Sterile stamens 3, with a distinctcordate, triangular head. Fruit placed on a pedicel more or lessthickened and fleshy. Flowers panicled. Leafbuds 2-valved,compressed. Leaves ribbed, with pinnate veins.686. P. gratissima Gcertn. de fr. et sem. iii. p. 222. NeesLaurin. 1 28. Laurus Persea Linn. sp. pi. 529. Sloane Jam.ii. 132. t.222. f. 2. The tropical parts of America. (AvocadoPear.)A large tree.Leaves ovate, ovate-oblong or obovate, rather acuteat each end, reticulated, and downy beneath, 9-veined, glaucous.Calyx with nearly equal oblong segments, in downy panicles, 3 or 4inches long. Fruit about as large as a pear, at first surrounded at thebase by the permanent calyx, but when ripe placed on a thick succulentpeduncle. The fruit abounds in a fixed oil of a buttery substance,and is much esteemed as a dessert fruit in the West Indies. Theleaves are reckoned balsamic, pectoral and vulnerary. The seeds arevery astringent.N. B. If there is such a plantas Laurus caustica, it probably belongsto this genus ;as Nees v. Esenbeck suggests. But I suspect it isnothing but the tree " Lithri," or Lithrea caustica.CARYODAPHNE.Flowers hermaphrodite, corymbose-panicled.333Calyx funnel-