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The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the Order Laurales. The Family contains some 40 genera and over 2000 (perhaps as many as 4000) species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and Brasil. Most are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs. However, Cassytha is a genus of parasitic vines.
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 MacaronesiaMacaronesia is a modern invented collective name for several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean near Europe and North Africa. The name comes from the Greek for "blessed islands", a term used by ancient geographers for islands to the west of then islands, southern JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh, MadagascarSee also Madagascar (movie) Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of Africa. Madagascar is the 4th largest island in the world. It is the home of five percent of the world's plant and animal species, 80 per cent of them, and central ChileThe word chile may also refer to Chilli pepper. The Republic of Chile is a republic located on the southwestern coast of South America. It is a long and narrow piece of land between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It shares borders with Argenti.
Among the best known genera are the following, having species used in commerce:
- Cinnamomum: CinnamonCinnamon Cinnamomum zeylanicum 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. It is native to Sri Lanka. The leaves are ovate-oblong in shape, 7-18 cm long. The flowers,, CassiaCassia 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. Cassia is also a genus of plants in the Famil and CamphorCamphor 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 C H O. General Name Camph
- Laurus: LaurelThe 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. It was also the source of the Laurel wreath of ancient Greece, and therefore the expression of "resting on o
- Lindera: Spice bush
- Persea: Avocado
- Sassafras: Sassafras
