P. Carolinénsis.
Pérsea Carolinénsis, Nees. (Red Bay.) Leaves 2 to 5 in. long, oblong, entire, covered with a fine down when young, soon smooth above. Flowers silky, in small rounded clusters on short stems. May. Fruit an ovate, pointed, 1-seeded, deep-blue drupe, ½ in. long, on a red stalk; ripe in autumn. Usually a small tree, 15 to 70 ft. high, wild in swamps, Delaware, Virginia, and south. Wood reddish, beautiful, hard, strong, durable.
Genus 69. SÁSSAFRAS.
Aromatic trees or shrubs with alternate, simple, deciduous, often lobed leaves. Juice of bark and leaves mucilaginous. Flowers yellowish-green, in clusters; blooming in early spring. Fruit a small bluish drupe on a thick reddish stem. Ripe in September. Twigs greenish-yellow.
S. officinàle.
Sássafras officinàle, Nees. (Sassafras.) Leaves very variable in form, ovate, entire, or some of them 2- to 3-lobed, soon smooth. Flowering as the leaves are putting forth. Tree 15 to 100 ft. high, common in rich woods. The aromatic fragrance is strongest in the bark of the roots. Wood reddish, rather hard and durable.
Genus 70. LÍNDERA.
Shrubs with deciduous, alternate, aromatic leaves and small, yellow flowers in close clusters along the branches. Fruit a drupe on a not-thickened stalk.