laurels
Lauraceae
Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide. They are dicotyledons, and occur mainly in warm temperate and tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America. Many are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but some, such as Sassafras, are deciduous, or include both deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, especially in tropical and temperate climates. The genus Cassytha is unique in the Lauraceae in that its members are parasitic vines. Many species within the laurel family are highly toxic; however, some, such as the avocado (Persea americana), are edible and widely consumed. Members of the laurel family have played a significant role in the spice trade, particularly genera like Cinnamomum, which produce aromatic oils used extensively in cooking, perfumery, and traditional medicine.
58 branches of this family, most-observed first
Sassafras
genusSassafras
spicebushes
genusLindera
Persea
genusPersea
Umbellularia
genusUmbellularia
Camphora
genusCamphora
Laurus
genusLaurus
Dodder Laurels
genusCassytha
Litsea
genusLitsea
Machilus
genusMachilus
Tamala
genusTamala
Cinnamomum
genusCinnamomum
Cryptocarya
genusCryptocarya
Neolitsea
genusNeolitsea
Beilschmiedia
genusBeilschmiedia
Ocotea
genusOcotea
Endiandra
genusEndiandra
Nectandra
genusNectandra
Damburneya
genusDamburneya
Phoebe
genusPhoebe
Actinodaphne
genusActinodaphne
Aiouea
genusAiouea
Aniba
genusAniba
Licaria
genusLicaria
Mespilodaphne
genusMespilodaphne
Andea
genusAndea
Endlicheria
genusEndlicheria
ironwood
genusEusideroxylon
Caryodaphnopsis
genusCaryodaphnopsis
Alseodaphne
genusAlseodaphne
Dehaasia
genusDehaasia
Mezilaurus
genusMezilaurus
Pleurothyrium
genusPleurothyrium
Rhodostemonodaphne
genusRhodostemonodaphne
Nothaphoebe
genusNothaphoebe
Neocinnamomum
genusNeocinnamomum
Alseodaphnopsis
genusAlseodaphnopsis
Sextonia
genusSextonia
Chlorocardium
genusChlorocardium
Urbanodendron
genusUrbanodendron
Williamodendron
genusWilliamodendron
Potoxylon
genusPotoxylon
Syndiclis
genusSyndiclis
Aspidostemon
genusAspidostemon
Sinopora
genusSinopora
Kubitzkia
genusKubitzkia
Potameia
genusPotameia
Dodecadenia
genusDodecadenia
Rosarioxylon
genusRosarioxylon
Cinnadenia
genusCinnadenia
Parasassafras
genusParasassafras
Phyllostemonodaphne
genusPhyllostemonodaphne
Clinostemon
genusClinostemon
Paraia
genusParaia
Yasunia
genusYasunia
Triadodaphne
genusTriadodaphne
Dicypellium
genusDicypellium
Hypodaphnis
genusHypodaphnis
Hexapora
genusHexapora
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Lauraceae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 48809.