Classical Greek name for an Egyptian tree.
Evergreen trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire, leathery. Flowers mostly bisexual, in axillary or terminal clusters. Segments 6 in 2 groups of 3. Stamens 9, anthers generally with 4 chambers. Style with a flattened stigma. Fruit a round or oblong berry.
Seed or grafting.
About 200 species from tropical and subtropical America and E Asia with 1 anomalous species from the Canary Islands.
Kopp (1966), Williams (1977), Alexander (1978), Branton (1995).
Source: (1997). Lauraceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
