Flora Medica

LAURACEJE.under side. Panicles compact, divaricating, silky. Fruit oval. Thefruit yields upon distillation a limpid volatile oil of a yellow winecolour,an aromatic acrid taste, and smell as if old oil of Orange peelhad been mixed with oil of Rosemary. Used in Brazil in contractionsof the joints, pains in the limbs and similar cases.696. O. cupularis Nees Laurin. 438. Laurus cupularis Lam.enc. iii. 447. ill. gen. t. 321. Bois de Canelle AM. guian. i. p. 363.and 364-. Woods of the Isles of France, Bourbon, and Madagascar.A very large tree, with a strong scented wood. Leaves ovateelliptical,acute at each end (sometimes blunt at the apex), ending in achannelled stalk, obsoletely netted, smooth ;the axils of the costalveins without pores. Racemes in clustered few-flowered rough hoaryracemes below the axillary and terminal bud. Calyx of fruit nearlyglobose. This is the Cinnamon of the Isle of France.SASSAFRAS.Dioecious. Calyx 6-parted, membranous; segments equal,permanent at the base. $ Fertile stamens . 9, in 3 rows, the3 inner with double stalked distinct, glands at the base. Antherslinear, 4-celled, all looking inwards. Female with as many sterilestamens as the male, or fewer ; the inner often confluent.Fruit succulent, placed on the thick fleshy apex of the peduncle,and seated in the torn unchanged calyx. Flowers yellow, beforethe leaves. Leaves deciduous.697. S. officinale N. and E. handb. ii. 418. pi. med. t. 131.Nees Laurin. 488. Laurus sassafras Linn. sp. pi. 530. Mich.Fl. bor. am. i. 244. Arbres forest,iii.p. 173. t. 1. Woods ofNorth America from Canada to Florida.A small tree or bush, flowering before the leaves. Leaves membranous,bright green, smooth above, finely downy beneath, veryvariable in form, some being obovate, others deeply 3-lobed, and somelobed only on 1 side, all however tapering in a wedge-like manner intothe petiole. Racemes naked, downy, with subulate deciduous bracts.Fruit bright blue, rather larger than a pea, upon red clavate peduncles.The bark of the root, which is thick and blood red, contains a greatquantity of essential oil. It has a high reputation as a powerfulsudorific, and combined with guaiacum and sarsaparilla in cutaneousaffections, chronic rheumatism, and old siphylitic maladies. The driedleaves contain so much mucilage that they are used in Louisiana forthickening soup, like Hibiscus esculentus. The bark of the branchesas well as the wood have been employed: but they are inferior to thebark of the root. Martius says (Travels ii. 96.), that this plant isfound commonly in the forests of S. Paul, in Brazil, where it isemployed as a diuretic and sudorific; but he probably means someother plant.698. S. Parthenoxylon Nees Laurin. 491. Laurus ParthenoxylonJack. mal. misc. in Bot. misc. ii. p. 76 Laurus porrectaRoxb. hort. calc 30. Laurus pseudosassafras Blume bijdr.338