The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family contains about 40 genera and over 2000 (perhaps as many as 4000) species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and Brazil. Most are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but Sassafras and one or two other genera are deciduous, and Cassytha is a genus of parasitic vines. Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Families Atherospermataceae Calycanthaceae Gomortegaceae Hernandiaceae Lauraceae Monimiaceae Siparunaceae The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... A Silver Fir shoot showing three successive years of retained leaves In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant which retains its leaves year-round, with each leaf persisting for more than 12 months. ... Deciduous forest after leaf fall Deciduous means temporary or tending to fall off (deriving from the Latin word decidere, to fall off). ... A parasite is an organism that lives in or on the living tissue of a host organism at the expense of that host. ... The term vine was originally a term for the plant on which grapes grew, from the word for wine (Greek oinos), for which grapes were grown. ...

Trees of the laurel family predominate in the world's laurel forests, which occur in a few humid subtropical and mild temperate regions of the northern and southern hemispheres, including the Macaronesian islands, southern Japan, Madagascar, and central Chile. Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. ... Macaronesia is a modern invented collective name for several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean near Europe and North Africa. ...

Among the best known genera are the following, having species used in commerce:

• Cinnamomum: Cinnamon, Cassia and Camphor
• Laurus: Laurel
• Lindera: Spice bush
• Persea: Avocado
• Sassafras: Sassafras

species See text Cinnamomum is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. ... Binomial name Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, synonym ) is a small evergreen tree 10-15 m tall, belonging to the family Lauraceae, and a spice obtained from the inner bark of this species. ... Cassia (Cinnamomum aromaticum Nees) is a spice made from the bark an evergreen tree native to southern China, a close relative to the Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) and Camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) trees. ... Camphor, also known as 1,7,7-trimethyl-bicyclo(2,2,1)heptan-2-one, d-camphor, d-(+)-camphor, (+)-2-bornanone, d-2-bornanone, 1,7,7-Trimethylnorcamphor, 2-Camphanone, 2-camphonone, Bornan-2-one, or Caladryl has the chemical formula C10H16O. Camphor is a white transparent waxy crystalline solid... Species Azores Laurel Canary Laurel (L.) Bay Laurel Laurus is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. ... Binomial nomenclature Laurus nobilis L. The Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis, Lauraceae), also known as True Laurel, Sweet Bay, Grecian Laurel, or just Laurel is the source of the spice Bay Leaves. ... Species Many, including: - Avocado - Redbay - Viñátigo - Lingue - Swampbay Persea is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. ... Binomial name Persea americana Mill. ... Species Sassafras officinale Sassafras (Sassafras officinale) is a perennial deciduous tree or shrub of the family Lauraceae. ...

Genera

Actinodaphne
Adenodaphne
Aiouea
Alseodaphne
Anaueria
Aniba
Apollonias
Aspidostemon
Beilschmiedia
Brassiodendron
Caryodaphnopsis
Chlorocardium
Cinnadenia
Cinnamomum
Clinostemon
Cryptocarya
Dehaasia
Dicypellium
Dodecadenia
Endiandra
Endlicheria
Eusideroxylon
Gamanthera
Hexapora
Hypodaphnis
Iteadaphne
Kubitzkia
Laurus
Licaria
Lindera
Litsea
Machilus (often included in Persea)
Mezilaurus
Nectandra
Neocinnamomum
Neolitsea
Nothaphoebe
Ocotea
Paraia
Persea
Phoebe
Phyllostemonodaphne
Pleurothyrium
Potameia
Potoxylon
Povedadaphne
Ravensara
Rhodostemonodaphne
Sassafras
Syndiclis
Triadodaphne
Umbellularia
Urbanodendron
Williamodendron
species See text Cinnamomum is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. ... Family: Lauraceae. ... Species Azores Laurel Canary Laurel (L.) Bay Laurel Laurus is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. ... Species Many, including: - Avocado - Redbay - Viñátigo - Lingue - Swampbay Persea is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. ... Species Many, including: - Avocado - Redbay - Viñátigo - Lingue - Swampbay Persea is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. ... Species Sassafras officinale Sassafras (Sassafras officinale) is a perennial deciduous tree or shrub of the family Lauraceae. ... Binomial name Umbellularia californica (Hook. ...

References

• Lauraceae in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The Families of Flowering Plants: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, Information Retrieval.
• Kostermans, André Joseph Guillaume Henri 1957. Lauraceae.Reinwardtia 4(2):193-256
• Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The Plant Book. A portable dictionary of the higher plants. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 706 p. ISBN 0 521 34060 8.
• Meissner (né Meisner), Carl Daniel Friedrich 1864. Lauraceae(Ordo 162) in A. L. P. P. de Candolle (Ed.), Prodromus Systematis Universalis Regni Vegetabilis 15(1): 1-260, Parisiis [Paris], Victoris Masson et Filii.
• Mez, Carl Christian 1889. Lauraceae Americanae Monographice Descripsit.Jahrbuch des Königlichen Botanischen Gartens und des Botanischen Museums zu Berlin 5: 1-556
• Wagner, W. L., D. R. Herbst, and S. H. Sohmer. 1990. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i. Spec. Publ. 83. University of Hawaii Press and Bishop Museum Press. Bishop Museum. 1854 pp.