Welcome to Lauraceae

The laurel or avocado family (Lauraceae) is among the most frequent and ecologically most important woody plant families in moist tropical and subtropical forests worldwide. Yet our knowledge about this group is still fragmentary. Its phylogeny is only partly understood, we know little about the biology of most species, and many species of the larger genera are virtually indeterminable due to lack of keys and recent revisions. The mission of this website is to improve this situation by sharing and disseminating knowledge about the Lauraceae.

We welcome any contribution that may help to reach this ambitious goal (descriptions, photos, field observations, information on phenology, pollination, dispersal, uses, etc., but especially newly collected plant material).

If you have any question, or any contribution to offer, do not hesitate to contact us.

If you publish about Lauraceae, please send us a reprint (currently at:  Lauraceae Working Group, c/o Dr. Jens G. Rohwer, Biozentrum Klein Flottbek, Ohnhorststr. 18, D-22609 Hamburg, Germany) or a PDF (Jens.Rohwerauni-hamburg.de ─ replace the a by @) ─ or at least send us the full bibliographic reference.