Lauraceae
Aromatic trees and shrubs, source of spices and avocados.
Lauraceae is a family of plants that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives, comprising about 2850 known species in roughly 45 genera worldwide.[1] Within the Lauraceae, most members are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, though Sassafras species can be deciduous, and Cassytha stands out as the sole genus composed of parasitic vines.[2]
Last updated 2026-10-07 from the source article.
Quick Facts
- Subdivision
- Many; see, Genera
Facts from the source article.
Biology and range
Warm temperate and tropical zones, particularly Southeast Asia and South America, are the primary habitats for Lauraceae.[1] Laurel forests and cloud forests, found in tropical through mild temperate areas across both hemispheres, are dominated by trees from this family.[3] The spice trade has been heavily influenced by the laurel family, with genera such as Cinnamomum providing aromatic oils for cooking, perfumery, and traditional remedies.[2] Monkeys, arboreal rodents, porcupines, opossums, and fish are among the animals that disperse seeds for various Lauraceae species.[4]
Domatia, which house certain mites, are found in the vein axils of leaves on some Lauraceae species.[5] In 2002, the southeastern United States saw the emergence of laurel wilt disease, caused by the fungus Raffaelea lauricola and spread by the beetle Xyleborus glabratus.[6]
What the specialist sources record
The "Lauraceae Columbianae" account notes that Lauraceae are a plant family with cosmopolitan distribution, particularly diverse in the tropics, and form an important component of tropical forests from lowland to montane.[7] In Colombia, Lauraceae are well represented in various types of forests.[7] The World Register of Marine Species records Lauraceae as an accepted family in the order Laurales, class Magnoliopsida, with environment listed as marine and terrestrial.[8] GBIF Backbone Taxonomy accepts the family Lauraceae and holds 1,357,898 occurrence records for this taxon as of 6 October 2026.[9]
According to conservative figures from that source, the family contains roughly 52 genera and between 3,000 and 3,500 species globally.[7] When small and medium-sized genera (those with up to about 100 species) have been recently monographed, the count of known species has risen by approximately 50%.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Lauraceae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Christenhusz, "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase", Phytotaxa, 20 May 2016, p. 201–217 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lauraceae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Anzano, "Laurel, Laurus nobilis L.: a review of its botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology", Phytochemistry Reviews, 2022-04-01, p. 565–615; Schroeder, "SOME USEFUL PLANTS OF THE BOTANICAL FAMILY LAURACEAE", California Avocado Society, 1975 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lauraceae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lauraceae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Lauraceae", Es.scribd.com, March 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lauraceae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stout, "An Association of an Ant, a Mealy Bug, and an Understory Tree from a Costa Rican Rain Forest", Biotropica, 1979, p. 309–311 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lauraceae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Recovery Plan for Laurel Wilt on Redbay and Other Forest Species Caused by Raffaelea lauricola and disseminated by Xyleborus glabratus" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Lauraceae Columbianae", botanica.uniandes.edu.co. facts only, no text reused. botanica.uniandes.edu.co
- World Register of Marine Species, Lauraceae (AphiaID 1492075). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Lauraceae (taxon key 6688). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Lauraceae (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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