The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s included in the order Laurales

Laurales

The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. They are magnoliids, related to the Magnoliales.The order includes about 2500-2800 species from 85-90 genera, which comprise seven families of trees and shrubs. Most of the species are tropical and subtropical, though a few genera reach the temperate...

. The family contains about 55 genera and over 3500, perhaps as many as 4000, species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. Most are aromatic evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

 trees or shrubs, but Sassafras genus and one or two other genera are deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

, and Cassytha

Cassytha

Cassytha L. is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few species in Africa, southern Asia, and one Cassytha L. (1753) is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few...

is a genus of parasitic vine

Vine

A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...

s.

Overview

The Lauraceae are a family of cosmopolitan plants with distribution particularly diverse in the tropics. Lauraceae species form an important component of tropical forests from low to montane forests in several cases found among the top five families with greater representation in terms of number of species. Although not known with certainty the total number of species in the family, conservative estimates indicate approximately 3.000 to 3.500 species worldwide, distributed in 52 genera. Compared to other plant families, the taxonomy of the family is poorly understood due in part to their great diversity, difficulty in identifying and reduced taxonomic work done on it. But recent interest in the family has avanced taxonomic and systematic knowledge of the family.

The Lauraceae are well represented in various types of forests. Because of the special lack of worldwide knowledge about the family in general, very little is known about their diversity. The knowledge of this family to national level, is that to be expected in countries with limited economic means with the vast majority of species indeterminate or even poorly determined. On the other hand, a high percentage of recently described new species come from collections made in these countries. Therefore an increase in the study of family, at national level, is of utmost importance for the progress of the systematics of the family in general.

Recent monographs of genera of lauraceae in small and medium genera, up to 100 species, have produced an high increase in the number of known species. This high increase in the number of species is expected for other genera, particularly for those with more than 150 species recorded, bringing an expected considerable increase in the total number of species of the family.

Trees of the laurel family predominate in the world's laurel forest

Laurel forest

Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...

s and cloud forest

Cloud forest

A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...

, which occur in tropical, subtropical and mild temperate regions of the northern and southern hemispheres, highlighting the Macaronesia

Macaronesia

Macaronesia is a modern collective name for several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean near Europe and North Africa belonging to three countries: Portugal, Spain, and Cape Verde...

n islands, southern Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

, and central Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. Tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s usually evergreen, rarely parasitic climber plants as Cassytha

Cassytha

Cassytha L. is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few species in Africa, southern Asia, and one Cassytha L. (1753) is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few...

genus.

There are three main economical uses for this family. A high content of essential oils are found in many Lauraceae that are important for spices and perfumes. Avocados are important oil-rich fruit that are now planted in warm climates across the world. The hard wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

 of many species is a source for timber around the world. A great number of species are in danger of extinction due to over exploitation as medicinal plants or timber extraction and also for loss of habitat.

The following genera include species with commercial value and are consequently among the best known: Cinnamomum

Cinnamomum

Cinnamomum is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of Cinnamomum have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains over 300 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of North America, Central America,...

: Cinnamon

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...

, Cassia and Camphor Laurel, Laurus

Laurus

-Overview:Laurus is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes three species, whose diagnostic key characters often overlap ....

: Bay Laurel

Bay Laurel

The bay laurel , also known as sweet bay, bay tree, true laurel, Grecian laurel, laurel tree, or simply laurel, is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glossy leaves, native to the Mediterranean region. It is the source of the bay leaf used in cooking...

, Lindera

Lindera

Lindera is a genus of about 80-100 species of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae, mostly native to eastern Asia but with three species in eastern North America. The species are shrubs and small trees; common names include Spicewood, Spicebush, and Benjamin Bush.-Overview:They are dioecious,...

: Spicebush, Persea

Persea

Persea is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The best-known member of the genus is the avocado, P. americana, widely cultivated in subtropical regions for its large, edible fruit.-Overview:...

: Avocado

Avocado

The avocado is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel...

, Sassafras

Sassafras

Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.-Overview:...

: Sassafras.

Ecology

The leaves of some species have domatia

Domatia

Domatia are tiny chambers produced by plants that house arthropods.Domatia differ from galls in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabitants...

s in the axils of the nerves, inhabited by mite

Mite

Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...

s. Other species, as some in genus Pleurothyrium

Pleurothyrium

Pleurothyrium is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. They are present in Laurel forest habitat and montane Cloud forest.-Overview:Pleurothyrium is a genus of neotropical distribution occurring 40 species distributed from Guatemala to Bolivia, in Panama, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua,...

, live in symbiosis

Symbiosis

Symbiosis is close and often long-term interaction between different biological species. In 1877 Bennett used the word symbiosis to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens...

 with ants that protect and defend the tree. Other defense mechanism that protect and defend are the bad-taste and bad-smelling, sometimes toxic, corrosive, or poisonous, of wood, flowers, leaves, sap etc. The flowers are protogynous, often with a complex flowering system to prevent inbreeding

Inbreeding

Inbreeding is the reproduction from the mating of two genetically related parents. Inbreeding results in increased homozygosity, which can increase the chances of offspring being affected by recessive or deleterious traits. This generally leads to a decreased fitness of a population, which is...

. The fruits are an important food source for birds, as some palaeognathae highly dependent on this food. Usually the birds are from specialized genera: Cotingidae, Columbidae, Trogonidae, Turdidae, Rhamphastidae, etc. Birds eat the whole fruit and regurgitate seeds intact, expanding the seeds in the best conditions for germination (ornitochory

Biological dispersal

Biological dispersal refers to species movement away from an existing population or away from the parent organism. Through simply moving from one habitat patch to another, the dispersal of an individual has consequences not only for individual fitness, but also for population dynamics, population...

). Secondly, the seed dispersal

Seed dispersal

Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant...

 is carried out by monkey

Monkey

A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...

s, chipmunk

Chipmunk

Chipmunks are small striped squirrels native to North America and Asia. They are usually classed either as a single genus with three subgenera, or as three genera.-Etymology and taxonomy:...

s, porcupine

Porcupine

Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...

s, opossums and fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

es. We know the hydrochory

Seed dispersal

Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant...

 in Caryodaphnopsis

Caryodaphnopsis

Caryodaphnopsis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. Is distributed in Pacific tropical from South America to Asia that currently has 15 species. The genus was described by Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw and published in Bulletin of Miscellaneous InformationKew 1940 : 75in...

.

The family is distributed throughout tropical, subtropical areas, and cloud forest

Cloud forest

A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...

 and a large part of species requires a high degree of moisture in the air. Lauraceae has several relict

Relict

A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.* In biology a relict is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas....

 species living in temperate areas of both hemispheres. The main centers of diversity are found in the region Indomalaya and Central America and South America, with Africa having a smaller number of species than other ecologically equivalent areas. The family has its origin in the coastal laurel forests of Gondwana

Gondwana

In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...

, which explains its distribución. Lauraceae inhabit montane tropical forests, reaching some species 4000 m, but are even more frequent in low-altitude rainforests. Some species have adapted to extreme conditions in semi-arid climates but mostly depending on favorable soil edaphic conditions, as presence of aquifers, groundwater periodic flows, periodically flooded forests in sand almost without nutrients. They are found in various species pneumatophores that are a type of root that grows upward, present in plants associated with water bodies. The pneumatophores favor the oxygenation of the plant parts that are submerged under water. Gondwanan plants related to lauraceae by belong to the same habitat or in addition to the same order laurales, for example, the single species, Amborella trichopoda that is the only member of both Amborella

Amborella

Amborella is a genus of rare understory shrubs or small trees endemic to the island of New Caledonia. The genus consists of only a single species, Amborella trichopoda, and is the only member of the family Amborellaceae. Wood of Amborella lacks the vessels characteristic of most flowering plants...

genus in the family Amborellaceae

Amborellaceae

Amborella is a genus of rare understory shrubs or small trees endemic to the island of New Caledonia. The genus consists of only a single species, Amborella trichopoda, and is the only member of the family Amborellaceae. Wood of Amborella lacks the vessels characteristic of most flowering plants...

within the Amborellales formerly in laurales

Laurales

The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. They are magnoliids, related to the Magnoliales.The order includes about 2500-2800 species from 85-90 genera, which comprise seven families of trees and shrubs. Most of the species are tropical and subtropical, though a few genera reach the temperate...

, from Gondwana in New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

, have become very difficult to establish the relationships between species.

It has been suggested an age of onset of the family of 174 + / - 32 Ma, while some authors (seeLi et al.2004, references) do not believe the origin has to look beyond the Cretaceous medium. Known fossils flowers are attributed to this family in clays of Cenomanian (mid-Cretaceous, 90-98 Ma ago) of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Eastern (mirabilis Mauldinia). The family is common in the tertiary strata of Europe and North America, but virtually disappeared from central Europe in the Late Miocene. Because of their extraordinary fragility, Lauraceae pollen does not keep well and is known only in relatively recent strata.

The patterns of speciation in the Lauraceae indicate that since the onset of aridification on the continents 15 million years ago, rainforest diversified in species numbers with the majority of contemporary species the product of vicariance. One of the products of aridification is the current island like archipelagos of rainforests along the planet. The fragmentation of once more continuous rainforest facilitated isolation of populations and this likely caused the increase in the rate of speciation as found in the Lauraceae. While many of the young species show a very disjunct distribution with sister taxa occurring in other centres of rainforest and cloud forest diversity, indicating that this group is most likely of Gondwanan origin, others groups of lauraceae responded to favourable climatic periods and expanded across the available habitat, occur as opportunistic species across wide distribution with close relatives and few species, indicating the recent divergence of this species. Many of extant laurel species of this other groups are relatively young.

In the case of divergent evolution

Divergent evolution

Divergent evolution is the accumulation of differences between groups which can lead to the formation of new species, usually a result of diffusion of the same species to different and isolated environments which blocks the gene flow among the distinct populations allowing differentiated fixation...

 within lauraceae, this similarity, of course, is due to the common origin. In contrast, the convergent evolution

Convergent evolution

Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...

 is due to ecological or physical drivers toward a similar solution, including analogous structures.
Many botanical species are having similar foliage to the Lauraceae due to convergent evolution. Plants of the laurel forests must adapt to high rainfall and humidity. The trees adapted by developing leaves that repel water. Laurophyll or lauroide leaves are characterized by a generous layer of wax, making them glossy in appearance, and narrow, pointed oval in shape with an apical mucro, or 'drip tip', which permit the leaves to shed water despite the humidity, allowing perspiration and respiration from plant. The scientific names Daphnidium, Daphne

Daphne (plant)

Daphne is a genus of between 50 and 95 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs in the family Thymelaeaceae, native to Asia, Europe, and north Africa...

from Greek: Δάφνη, meaning "laurel", laurina

Hakea laurina

Hakea laurina is a plant of Southwest Australia that is widely cultivated and admired. The species is often referred to as Kodjet, Pincushion Hakea, and Emu Bush...

, Laureliopsis

Laureliopsis philippiana

Laureliopsis philippiana , known as Tepa is a species of plant endemic to Chile and Argentina . In Chile it is found from Maule to Aysen. It grows on humid and deep soils.-Description:...

, laureola

Skimmia laureola

Skimmia laureola is species of shrub grown as an ornamental plant. The leaves are edible when cooked. The leaves give an aromatic smell when crushed. It produces white flowers that develop into small round red berries. The berries are eaten by birds, which disperse the seeds through their...

, laurifolia

Malosma

Malosma is a plant genus which contains only a single species, Malosma laurina, with the common names Laurel sumac and Lentisco ....

, laurophylla

Banyan

A banyan is a fig that starts its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree...

, laurocerasus, lauriformis

Viburnum tinus

Viburnum tinus is a species of flowering plant in the genus Viburnum, belonging to the family Adoxaceae. Laurus signifies the leaves' similarities to bay laurel; tinus means "tenth born".-Description: It is a shrub reaching up to 2-7 m tall, with a dense, rounded crown...

, and lauroide

Corynocarpus rupestris

Corynocarpus rupestris, is an evergreen laurifolia tree, of the family Corynocarpaceae, commonly known as the Glenugie Karaka is a rainforest tree found in eastern Australia...

are often used to name species of other plant families that resemble Lauraceace. Furthermore, it is common that the dispersal of seeds in many laurel forest species is due to birds that swallow them, so also the fruit and berries are often similar to attract birds. Although not closely related to Lauraceae family despite the similarity, Laurelia

Laurelia

Laurelia is a genus of flowering plants included in the order Laurales, in the family Atherospermataceae. They are Evergreen fragrant laurifolia trees formerly in the Monimiaceae family....

 genus, in the family Atherospermataceae

Atherospermataceae

The Atherospermataceae, commonly known as the southern sassafrases, are a family of broadleaf evergreen trees and shrubs. The family includes 14 species in seven genera. The atherosperms are native to the southern hemisphere, with two species native to southern Chile and 12 species native to...

 is equivalent to this of Lauraceae in southern hemisphere.

Deciduous lauraceae lose all of their leaves

Leaves

-History:Vocalist Arnar Gudjonsson was formerly the guitarist with Mower, and he was joined by Hallur Hallsson , Arnar Ólafsson , Bjarni Grímsson , and Andri Ásgrímsson . Late in 2001 they played with Emiliana Torrini and drew early praise from the New York Times...

 for part of the year depending on variations in rain

Rain

Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...

fall. The leaf loss coincides with the dry season

Dry season

The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...

 in tropical, subtropical and arid regions. In temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

 or polar climate

Polar climate

Regions with a polar climate are characterized by a lack of warm summers . Regions with polar climate cover over 20% of the Earth. The sun shines 24 hours in the summer, and barely ever shines at all in the winter...

s the dry season is due to the inability of the plant to absorb water available by to be in the form of ice.

The lauracea are usually tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s, but the genus Cassytha

Cassytha

Cassytha L. is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few species in Africa, southern Asia, and one Cassytha L. (1753) is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few...

are parasitic climber herb

Herb

Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...

s with at least seventeen to twenty species of climber plants from most of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, but with species originating in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, the southern Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, north of South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, southern the Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and one (Cassytha filiformis) of Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. This genus is universally recognized as monophyletic within Lauraceae. This postion within Lauraceae is supported by floral morphology and molecular data. It is a phenomena of divergent evolution

Divergent evolution

Divergent evolution is the accumulation of differences between groups which can lead to the formation of new species, usually a result of diffusion of the same species to different and isolated environments which blocks the gene flow among the distinct populations allowing differentiated fixation...

 from the large evergreen trees, for occupy another ecological niche. Also it is a phenomena of convergent evolution

Convergent evolution

Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...

 with climbing species as cuscuta

Cuscuta

Cuscuta is a genus of about 100-170 species of yellow, orange or red parasitic plants. Formerly treated as the only genus in the family Cuscutaceae, recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown that it is correctly placed in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae...

 or Laurel forest

Laurel forest

Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. They are characterized by tree species with evergreen, glossy, enlongated leaves, known as laurophyll or lauroide...

 habitat climbing species as lauroide Ivy

Ivy

Ivy, plural ivies is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and across central-southern Asia east to Japan and Taiwan.-Description:On level ground they...

 genus, spread by birds that helped to colonize large areas again.

Classification

Lauraceae have always been considered a primeval group of Flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s. The APW (Angiosperm Phylogeny Website) considered it part of the advanced group of Order Laurales

Laurales

The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. They are magnoliids, related to the Magnoliales.The order includes about 2500-2800 species from 85-90 genera, which comprise seven families of trees and shrubs. Most of the species are tropical and subtropical, though a few genera reach the temperate...

, being the most advanced family and the sister group of the Hernandiaceae

Hernandiaceae

Hernandiaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been recognised by most taxonomists.The APG II system, of 2003 , also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Laurales in the clade magnoliids...

 (cf. AP-website).

The systematic internal in the family still raises many unresolved problems, p. eg., the division into genus is based on characters that can vary even within the same flower (teak 2 - or 4-sporangium, placing them, etc..), so are not reliable. In most phylogenetic analysis, hypodaphnis

Hypodaphnis

Hypodaphnis is a monotypic botanical genus of flowering plant belonging to the Lauraceae family. Its only extant species: Hypodaphnis zenkeri Stapf, is native to Gabon...

appears as the basal branch, sister group of the rest of the family. There is no overlap in the different analysis of whether Cassytha

Cassytha

Cassytha L. is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few species in Africa, southern Asia, and one Cassytha L. (1753) is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few...

or the group of genera close to Cryptocarya

Cryptocarya

Cryptocarya is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes more than 350 species, distributed through the Neotropic, Afrotropic, Indomalaya, and Australasia ecozones.-Overview:...

and Beilschmiedia

Beilschmiedia

Beilschmiedia is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Central America, the Caribbean,...

would be the next branch of phylogenetic tree. The couple Caryodaphnopsis

Caryodaphnopsis

Caryodaphnopsis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. Is distributed in Pacific tropical from South America to Asia that currently has 15 species. The genus was described by Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw and published in Bulletin of Miscellaneous InformationKew 1940 : 75in...

+ Neocinnamomum

Neocinnamomum

Neocinnamomum is a genus of shrubs or small trees belonging to the Lauraceae, indigenous to Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia , Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.-Species:...

form the next branch, which is the sister group of the core of the Lauraceae. This nucleus, which seems to very short phylogenetic distances, would compound (branching order) by:

a) The group consisting of Chlorocardium

Chlorocardium

Chlorocardium rodiei is a member of the family Lauraceae. It is one of two species in the genus Chlorocardium, and was formerly classified in either of the genera Nectandra or Ocotea, as Nectandra rodiei or Ocotea rodiei. Other local names include sipiri, bebeeru and bibiru...

and sub-genres called Mezilaurus

Mezilaurus

Mezilaurus is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. Mezilaurus is a neotropical genus consisting of 18-27 species occurring from Costa Rica to the southeast of Brazil ....

.

b) The subset of Persea

Persea

Persea is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The best-known member of the genus is the avocado, P. americana, widely cultivated in subtropical regions for its large, edible fruit.-Overview:...

.

c) A poorly defined group which would include gender Lindera

Lindera

Lindera is a genus of about 80-100 species of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae, mostly native to eastern Asia but with three species in eastern North America. The species are shrubs and small trees; common names include Spicewood, Spicebush, and Benjamin Bush.-Overview:They are dioecious,...

, Litsea

Litsea

Litsea is a genus of evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes 200 to 400 species in tropical and subtropical areas of both hemispheres.-Overview:Trees or shrubs, dioecious...

, Neolitsea

Neolitsea

Neolitsea is a genus of 80 species of evergreen shrub and small tree in the laurel family Lauraceae. They range from tropical Asia, Malesia to Australia...

, Sassafras

Sassafras

Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.-Overview:...

and perhaps Actinodaphne

Actinodaphne

Actinodaphne is an Asian genus of the family Lauraceae, Laurel bay related, that comprises a group of flowering plants within the order Laurales.-Overview:...

, part of the tribe Laureae in the classical sense.

d) A terminal group formed the subgroups advanced of Ocotea

Ocotea

Ocotea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. The genus includes over 200 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America, the West Indies, also with a few species in Africa and Madagascar, and...

, of Aniba

Aniba

Aniba is an american neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in Caribbean islands, Central America, and norther to central South America.- Description :...

and the rest of the tribe Laureae, among which highlight the fact that neither gender Ocotea

Ocotea

Ocotea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. The genus includes over 200 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America, the West Indies, also with a few species in Africa and Madagascar, and...

, or Nectandra

Nectandra

Nectandra is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae.-Overview:Plants from this genus have been used in the treatment of several clinical disorders in humans. It has been demonstrated that Nectandra plants have potential analgesic, antiinflammatory, febrifuge, energetic and hypotensive activities...

and Cinnamomum

Cinnamomum

Cinnamomum is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of Cinnamomum have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains over 300 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of North America, Central America,...

would be monophyletic (as suspected already), and that there would be no real difference between the genus Aniba

Aniba

Aniba is an american neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in Caribbean islands, Central America, and norther to central South America.- Description :...

, Dicypellium

Dicypellium

Dicypellium is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae, native to tropical South America, in Amazon Basin.Diagnostic characters: they are trees, with the flowers not involucrated, ovary superior, nine or fewer fertile stamens, anthers four-locular and nine tepals, and the...

and Urbanodendron

Urbanodendron

Urbanodendron is a neotropical genus of plant in Lauraceae family, in South America.-Overview:It is an endangered genus occurring in Brazil, of aromatic dioecious evergreen trees with male and female flowers on separate trees....

. The genus Actinodaphne

Actinodaphne

Actinodaphne is an Asian genus of the family Lauraceae, Laurel bay related, that comprises a group of flowering plants within the order Laurales.-Overview:...

, Litsea

Litsea

Litsea is a genus of evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes 200 to 400 species in tropical and subtropical areas of both hemispheres.-Overview:Trees or shrubs, dioecious...

, Neolitsea

Neolitsea

Neolitsea is a genus of 80 species of evergreen shrub and small tree in the laurel family Lauraceae. They range from tropical Asia, Malesia to Australia...

and Lindera

Lindera

Lindera is a genus of about 80-100 species of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae, mostly native to eastern Asia but with three species in eastern North America. The species are shrubs and small trees; common names include Spicewood, Spicebush, and Benjamin Bush.-Overview:They are dioecious,...

would be not monophyletic (Li et al. 2004, see references).

Classification within the Lauraceae remains unresolved. Multiple classification schemes based on a variety of morphological and anatomical characteristics have been proposed but none are fully accepted. According to Judd et al. (2007), the suprageneric classification proposed by van der Werff and Richter (1996) is currently the authority. However, due to an array of molecular and embryological evidence that disagrees with the groupings, it is not fully accepted by the scientific community. Their classification is based on both inflorescence structure and wood and bark anatomy. It divides Lauraceae into two subfamilies, Cassythoideae and Lauroideae. The Cassythoideae comprises a single genus, Cassytha, and is defined by its herbaceous, parasitic habit. The Lauroidaeae is then divided into three tribes: Laureae, Perseeae, and Cryptocaryeae.

The subfamily, Cassythoideae, is not fully supported. Backing has come from matK sequences of chloroplast genes while a questionable placement of Cassytha has been concluded from analysis of intergenetic spacers of chloroplast and nuclear genomes. Embryological studies also appear contradictory. One study by Heo et al. (1998) supports the subfamily. It found that Cassytha develops an ab initio cellular type endosperm and rest of the family (with one exception) develops a nuclear type endosperm. Kimoto et al. (2006) suggests that Cassytha should be placed in the Cryptocaryeae tribe because it shares a glandular anther tapetum and an embryo sac protruding from the nucellus with other members of the Cryptocaryeae.

The Laureae and Perseeae tribes are not well supported by any molecular or embryological studies. Sequences of the matK chloroplast gene as well as sequences of chloroplast and nuclear genomes reveal close relationships between the two tribes. Embryological evidence does not support a clear division between the two tribes either. Genera such as Caryodaphnopsis and Aspidostemon that share embryological characteristics with one tribe and wood and bark characteristics or inflorescence characteristics with another tribe blur the division of the these groups. All available evidence, except for inflorescence morphology and wood and bark anatomy, fails to support separate Laureae and Perseeae tribes.

The Cryptocaryeae tribe is partially supported by molecular and embryological studies. Chloroplast and nuclear genomes supports a tribal grouping that contains all the genera circumscribed by van der Weff and Richter (1996) as well as three additional genera. Partial support for the tribe is also attained from the matK sequences of chloroplast genes as well as embryology.

Challenges in Lauraceae classification

The knowledge of all individuals comprising the Lauraceae is incomplete. As of 1991, approximately 25-30% of neotropical Lauraceae species had not been described. As of 2001, embryological studies had only been completed on individuals from 26 genera yielding a 38.9% level of knowledge, in terms of embryology, for this family. Additionally,
the huge amount of variation within the family for any potential defining characteristic poses a major challenge for developing a reliable classification. It is impossible to describe even one genus or tribe by a single well-defined character. For this reason, all proposed classifications rely on a set of characteristics where the combination presents the most frequently observed traits for the group.

Phytochemistry

The adaptation to new environments has been lauraceae following a long journey of evolution that has led many specializations including defensive or deterrent systems against other living beings

There is no standard common name for lauraceae as a whole. Common names of some species refer to their similarity to other Lauraceae such as laurel

Bay Laurel

The bay laurel , also known as sweet bay, bay tree, true laurel, Grecian laurel, laurel tree, or simply laurel, is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glossy leaves, native to the Mediterranean region. It is the source of the bay leaf used in cooking...

 or sassafras

Sassafras

Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.-Overview:...

. Many terms are used instead that refer to wood's aromatic, sometimes even nauseatingly pungent smell. Laurel is the better known term applied by the scent given off by many species that are not even in the family of the Lauraceae. Sweetwood is common in the genus Ocotea, it is hardly ever used for other plants. Camphorwood is usually used for Cinnamomum camphora, a close relative of Ocotea and ohter tree species that scent given off. Stinkwood

Stinkwood

Stinkwood is the common name for a number of trees or shrubs which have wood with an unpleasant odour, including:*Celtis africana – native to South Africa...

can refer to any number of quite unrelated trees with bad-smelling wood, as Oreodaphne bullata, of disagreeable odor found at the cape of Good Hope. Ocotea foetens in macaronesian islands, etc

Alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...

s bencilisoquinolidinics are present, mainly aporphinans, oxoaporphinans and morphinan

Morphinan

Morphinan is the base chemical structure of a large chemical class of psychoactive drugs, consisting of opioid analgesics, cough suppressants, and dissociative hallucinogens, among others.- Chemical Derivatives :Immediate derivatives of morphinan include:...

s, as well as derivatives of Pavina. Essential oils widely distributed, especially terpenoid

Terpenoid

The terpenoids , sometimes called isoprenoids, are a large and diverse class of naturally occurring organic chemicals similar to terpenes, derived from five-carbon isoprene units assembled and modified in thousands of ways. Most are multicyclic structures that differ from one another not only in...

s, benzyl benzoate

Benzyl benzoate

Benzyl benzoate is the ester of benzyl alcohol and benzoic acid, with the formula C6H5CH2O2CC6H5. This easily prepared compound has a variety of uses.-Synthesis:This colorless liquid is formally the condensation product of benzoic acid and benzyl alcohol...

s, alilfenols and propenilfenols. Lignan

Lignan

The lignans are a group of chemical compounds found in plants. Lignans are one of the major classes of phytoestrogens, which are estrogen-like chemicals and also act as antioxidants. The other classes of phytoestrogens are the isoflavones and coumestans...

s and neolignans present, and flavonoid

Flavonoid

Flavonoids , are a class of plant secondary metabolites....

s s-methyl 5-O, proanthocyanidin

Proanthocyanidin

Proanthocyanidins, also known as OPCs or condensed tannins, are a subgroup of the flavonoid class of polyphenols...

s, cinamoilamidas, fenilpironas, estirilpironas, polyketide

Polyketide

Polyketides are secondary metabolites from bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. Polyketides are usually biosynthesized through the decarboxylative condensation of malonyl-CoA derived extender units in a similar process to fatty acid synthesis...

s (acetogeninss), furanosesquiterpens and sesquiterpene lactones:germanacrolidous, elemanolidous, eudesmanolidous and guayanolidous.

Genera

The list of genus includes some genera of dubious validity, but the state of current knowledge of the systematics of the family not allows for greater accuracy. They have been compiled from recent work.

Some genus were before sometimes included as a subgenus.

Acrodiclidium Actinodaphne Actinodaphne Actinodaphne is an Asian genus of the family Lauraceae, Laurel bay related, that comprises a group of flowering plants within the order Laurales.-Overview:... Adenodaphne Adenodaphne Adenodaphne is a genus of flowering plants, evergreen trees or shrubs belonging to the family Lauraceae, of five species from New Caledonia. They are large trees characteristics of Rainforest in montane laurel forest habitats in New Caledonia and restricted to this region. They belong to an ancient... Afrodaphne Agathophyllum Agatophyllum Aiouea Aiouea Aiouea is a botanical genus of plants in the family of the Lauraceae endemic of Central America and South America. Genus Aiouea is distributed from southern Mexico to southern Brazil and Paraguay... Alseodaphne Alseodaphne Alseodaphne is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae.... Ampelodaphne Anaueria Anaueria Anaueria is a genus of plant belonging to the family Lauraceae. This genus have one or two species Anaueria brasiliensis Kosterman., It is native of South America. The genus was described by André Joseph Guillaume Henri Kostermans and published in Chronica Botanica 4, 14, in 1938... Aniba Aniba Aniba is an american neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in Caribbean islands, Central America, and norther to central South America.- Description :... Apella Aperula Apollonias Apollonias Apollonias is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes from one to ten species of evergreen trees and shrubs from laurel forest habitat mainly in Macaronesian islands.-Description:... Appella Aspidostemon Aspidostemon Aspidostemon is a botanical genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. It is present from Madagascar.-Overview:The genus was described by Gunter Jens Rohwer & HGRicht. Published in Jahrbuch für Botanische Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte Pflanzengeographie und 109 : 74 in 1987... Aydendron Balanopsis Beilschmiedia Beilschmiedia Beilschmiedia is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Central America, the Caribbean,... Bellota Bellota Bellota is a spider genus of the Salticidae family .-Species:* Bellota fascialis Dyal, 1935 — Pakistan* Bellota formicina — Peru* Bellota livida Dyal, 1935 — Pakistan... Benzoin Bernieria Bihania Boldu Borbonia Brassiodendron Brassiodendron Brassiodendron is a genus of 1 species of plants, in the laurel family Lauraceae. They have a broad distribution across South East Asia, Australia and into the western Pacific Ocean. Its only species, Brassiodendron fragrans CKAllen, is native to Papua New Guinea...

Bryantea Burbonia Calodium Calosmon Calycodaphne Camphora Camphoromoea Caryodaphne Caryodaphnopsis Caryodaphnopsis Caryodaphnopsis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. Is distributed in Pacific tropical from South America to Asia that currently has 15 species. The genus was described by Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw and published in Bulletin of Miscellaneous InformationKew 1940 : 75in... Cassitha Cassytha Cassytha Cassytha L. is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few species in Africa, southern Asia, and one Cassytha L. (1753) is a genus of 17 species of parasitic vines in the family Lauraceae, mainly native to Australia, but with a few... Cecidodaphne Cedrota Ceramocarpium Ceramophora Chanekia Chlorocardium Chlorocardium Chlorocardium rodiei is a member of the family Lauraceae. It is one of two species in the genus Chlorocardium, and was formerly classified in either of the genera Nectandra or Ocotea, as Nectandra rodiei or Ocotea rodiei. Other local names include sipiri, bebeeru and bibiru... Cinnadenia Cinnadenia Cinnadenia is a flowering plant genus belonging to the family Lauraceae. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in South East Asia.... Cinnamomum Cinnamomum Cinnamomum is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of Cinnamomum have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains over 300 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of North America, Central America,... Clinostemon Cryptocarya Cryptocarya Cryptocarya is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes more than 350 species, distributed through the Neotropic, Afrotropic, Indomalaya, and Australasia ecozones.-Overview:... Cyanodaphne Cylicodaphne Dahlgrenodendron Dahlgrenodendron Dahlgrenodendron is an endangered genus of plant in family Lauraceae. They are evergreen "lauroide" trees belonging to the tropical or templated Laurel forest habitat, a type of Cloud forest in Africa and South Africa.-Overview:... Daphnidium Decapenta

Dehaasia Dehaasia Dehaasia is a genus of evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. It is a botanical genus to 53 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. Distributed from continental Asia, from India to China, and islands from Borneo, New Guinea, Java,... Dictyodaphne Dicypellium Dicypellium Dicypellium is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae, native to tropical South America, in Amazon Basin.Diagnostic characters: they are trees, with the flowers not involucrated, ovary superior, nine or fewer fertile stamens, anthers four-locular and nine tepals, and the... Dipliathus Dodecadenia Dodecadenia Dodecadenia is a botanical genus with at least three species of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. It is present from central Asia, to Himalayas and India... Douglassia Douglassia Douglassia is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Drilliidae.-Species:Species within the genus Douglassia include:... Drimophyllum Endiandra Endiandra Endiandra is a genus of approximately 100 species of plants, mainly trees in the laurel family Lauraceae. They have a broad distribution across South East Asia, Australia and into the western Pacific Ocean.... Endlicheria Endlicheria Endlicheria is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. Endlicheria is a neotropical genus consisting of approximately 60 species occurring mostly in the norther South America and Amazon region.-Overview:... Endocarpa Endyandra Eudiandra Euosmus Eusideroxylon Eusideroxylon Eusideroxylon is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family. The genus includes nine species of plant in the family Lauraceae. The genus is present in coastal rainforest and montane rainforest of Southeast Asia They are evergreen hardwood trees, reaching up to 40 meters in height... Evelyna Evodia Evonymodaphne Farnesia Fiwa Gamanthera Gamanthera Gamanthera is a flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae, with a single species endemic of Central America. These trees have a resilient wood, used as timber.- Description :... Goeppertia Gymnobalanus Haasia Heckeria Hexanthus Hexapora Hexapora Micropora is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. The genus was described too as Hexapora genus, with a species, Hexapora curtisii. It is endemic to Malaysia. It is threatened by habitat loss.-Overview:...

Hornera Huberodaphne Hufelandia Hypodaphnis Hypodaphnis Hypodaphnis is a monotypic botanical genus of flowering plant belonging to the Lauraceae family. Its only extant species: Hypodaphnis zenkeri Stapf, is native to Gabon... Icosandra Iozosmene Iozoste Iteadaphne Iteodaphne Jozoste Kerrdora Kubitzkia Kubitzkia Kubitzia is an american neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae with two species from South America.- Description :They are evergreen trees up to 25 m high with spicy odor and hermaphrodites... Lauromerrillia Laurus Laurus -Overview:Laurus is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes three species, whose diagnostic key characters often overlap .... Lepidadenia Leptodaphne Licaria Licaria Licaria is a flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae, endemic of Central America and South America. It is a Neotropical genus with near of 40 species.-Overview:... Lindera Lindera Lindera is a genus of about 80-100 species of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae, mostly native to eastern Asia but with three species in eastern North America. The species are shrubs and small trees; common names include Spicewood, Spicebush, and Benjamin Bush.-Overview:They are dioecious,... Linharea Litsaea Litsea Litsea Litsea is a genus of evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes 200 to 400 species in tropical and subtropical areas of both hemispheres.-Overview:Trees or shrubs, dioecious... Machilus Machilus Machilus is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. Is distributed in temperate, tropical and subtropical Asia. Machilus genus include currently more than 100 species, mostly in laurel forest habitat.-Overview:... Malapoenna Massoia Menestrata

Mespilodaphne Mezia Mezilaurus Mezilaurus Mezilaurus is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. Mezilaurus is a neotropical genus consisting of 18-27 species occurring from Costa Rica to the southeast of Brazil .... Micropora Hexapora Micropora is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. The genus was described too as Hexapora genus, with a species, Hexapora curtisii. It is endemic to Malaysia. It is threatened by habitat loss.-Overview:... Misanteca Misanteca Misanteca is an american flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae. Mostly deciduous or evergreen tall trees. These trees have a resilient wood, useful as timber, for construction and as firewood.- Description :... Mocinnodaphne Mocinnodaphne Mocinnodaphne is a neotropical genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. The genus includes one or more species of evergreen trees, distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical regions of North America and Central America: California, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua,... Mutisiopersea Nectandra Nectandra Nectandra is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae.-Overview:Plants from this genus have been used in the treatment of several clinical disorders in humans. It has been demonstrated that Nectandra plants have potential analgesic, antiinflammatory, febrifuge, energetic and hypotensive activities... Neocinnamomum Neocinnamomum Neocinnamomum is a genus of shrubs or small trees belonging to the Lauraceae, indigenous to Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia , Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.-Species:... Neolitsea Neolitsea Neolitsea is a genus of 80 species of evergreen shrub and small tree in the laurel family Lauraceae. They range from tropical Asia, Malesia to Australia... Neosilvia Nesodaphne Nobeliodendron Notaphoebe Nothaphoebe Nothaphoebe Nothaphoebe is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae with about 40 species in East asia, south east Asia, and North America.-Overview:Distribution from China to peninsula Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, Borneo, Philippines. In North America from Texas to south with more species mostly... Nyctandra Ocotea Ocotea Ocotea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. The genus includes over 200 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America, the West Indies, also with a few species in Africa and Madagascar, and... Oreodaphne Oreodaphne Oreodaphne is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. The genus includes five species of evergreen trees, distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Mauritius, California, Sudafrica and Macaronesian archipelagos. Oreodaphne is related with Ocotea... Ozanthes Parabenzoin Paraia Paraia Paraia is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. It is a neotropical genus consisting of 1 species occurring from the southeast of Brazil.-Overview:The genus was described by HGRicht... Parasassafras Parthenoxylon Persea Persea Persea is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The best-known member of the genus is the avocado, P. americana, widely cultivated in subtropical regions for its large, edible fruit.-Overview:... Perseanthus Petalanthera

Phoebe Phoebe (plant) Phoebe is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae.-Overview:They are widespread in tropical and subtropical Asia and neotropical America region... Phyllostemonodaphne Phyllostemonodaphne Phyllostemonodaphne is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. It contains the following species :* Phyllostemonodaphne geminiflora, Kosterm.... Pipalia Pleorothyrium Pleurothyrium Pleurothyrium Pleurothyrium is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. They are present in Laurel forest habitat and montane Cloud forest.-Overview:Pleurothyrium is a genus of neotropical distribution occurring 40 species distributed from Guatemala to Bolivia, in Panama, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua,... Polyadenia Porostema Potameia Potameia Potameia is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. It contains the following species :* Potameia lotungensis, Kim Dao... Potoxylon Potoxylon Potoxylon is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. Its only species: Potoxylon melagangai ​​Kostermans, is native to Borneo in tropical Asia... Povedadaphne Povedadaphne Povedadaphne is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. They are evergreen "lauroide" trees belonging to the tropical Laurel forest habitat, a type of Cloud forest in Costa Rica, in Central America.-Overview:... Pseudocryptocarya Pseudolitsea Pseudosassafras Purkayasthaea Ravensara Ravensara The Ravensara is a Madagascar endemic genus of trees and shrubs flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. Ravensare species produce Essential Oils from their bark, their leaves and their fruit.... Rhodostemonodaphne Rhodostemonodaphne Rhodostemonodaphne is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. Rhodostemonodaphne is a neotropical genus consisting of approximately 41 species occurring mostly in the norther South America and Amazon region.-Overview:... Rombut Rumputris Salgada Sassafras Sassafras Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.-Overview:... Schauera Sciadiodaphne Sebifera Sextonia Sextonia Sextonia is a neotropical genus of plant in Lauraceae family, South America.-Overview:It is a genus of aromatic dioecious evergreen trees with male and female flowers on separate trees. Occurring in Peru, Brazil: Amapa, Maranhao, Para.... Silvaea Silvia Silvia Silvia is an Italian female given name of Latin origin, with English-language cognate Sylvia.Silvia is the Roman goddess of the forest and the moon, the sister of Romei, who is greatly trusted as her husband....

Sinopora Sinosassafras Spironema Stemmatodaphne Strychnodaphne Symphysodaphne Syndiclis Syndiclis Syndiclis is a genus of plant in Lauraceae family, In East and South East Asia, From India and China to Indonesia with 12 species known.-Overview:It is a genus of aromatic dioecious evergreen hermaphrodite shrubs and trees occurring in Asia... Systemonodaphne Tamala Teleiandra Temmodaphne Tetradenia Tetranthera Thouvenotia Tomex Triadodaphne Trianthera Triplomeia Tylostemon Umbellularia Umbellularia Umbellularia californica is a large tree native to coastal forests of California and slightly extended into Oregon.It is the sole species in the genus Umbellularia.... Urbanodendron Urbanodendron Urbanodendron is a neotropical genus of plant in Lauraceae family, in South America.-Overview:It is an endangered genus occurring in Brazil, of aromatic dioecious evergreen trees with male and female flowers on separate trees.... Volutella Williamodendron Williamodendron Williamodendron is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae, in South America.-Overview:The genus is characterized by an combination of characters in the flower anther that have occurred in the species in its own distinct genus. There is little information regarding the... Yasunia Yushunia Yushunia Yushunia is a genus of plant in family Lauraceae. They are evergreen "lauroide" trees belonging to the tropical Laurel forest habitat, a type of Cloud forest in Taiwan, in Asia.-Overview:...