Caryodaphnopsis Airy-Shaw

Evergreen trees or shrubs.  Terminal buds not perulate.

Leaves (sub)opposite, usually triplinerved, rarely penninerved.

Inflorescences thyrso-paniculate or occasionally botryoid, not involucrate.

Flowers trimerous, bisexual.  Tepals 6, strongly unequal, the outer ones much smaller than inner ones, spreading at anthesis.  Fertile stamens usually 9, in 3 whorls, stamens of the third whorl with a pair of glands at the base of the filaments.  Anthers mostly 4-locular (rarely 2-locular), pollen sacs arranged in an arc, in the two outer whorls introrse, in the third whorl extrorse or upper pollen sacs latrorse.  Staminodes of the fourth androecial whorl mostly well-developed, with a cordate to sagittate glandular head.  Ovary superior, on a very small and shallow receptacle.

Fruit globose, ellipsoid, or pyriform, seated free on a scarcely enlarged pedicel.  Tepals deciduous or persistent.

Tropical and subtropical Asia and America.  16 species known.

The most unusual character of Caryodaphnopsis are its extremely unequal tepals.  The outer tepals usually reach not more than 1/3 of the length of the inner tepals.  Such a difference can also be found in a few species of Dehaasia and Persea subgen. Eriodaphne, but these have alternate, penninerved leaves, and in Cassytha, a leafless twining hemiparasite.

Caryodaphnopsis appears to be most closely related to Neocinnamomum, but its affinities are not yet completely understood.

Further information:

Kostermans A.J.G.H. (1974) A monograph of Caryodaphnopsis Airy Shaw. Reinwardtia 9(1): 123-137.

Li X.W., Li J. & van der Werff H. (2008) Caryodaphnopsis Airy Shaw. In: Wu C.Y. & Raven P.R. (eds.) Flora of China. Beijing: Science Press & St Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press. 7: 225-226.

Liu B., Yang Y. & Ma K. (2013) A new species of Caryodaphnopsis Airy Shaw (Lauraceae) from southeastern Yunnan, China. Phytotaxa 118: 1-8.

van der Werff H. (2012) A new species of Caryodaphnopsis (Lauraceae) from Peru. Harvard Papers in Botany 17: 39-41.

van der Werff H. & Dao N.K. (1999) A new species of Caryodaphnopsis (Lauraceae) from Vietnam. Novon 9(4): 584-586.

van der Werff H. & Richter H.G. (1985) Caryodaphnopsis Airy Shaw (Lauraceae), a genus new to the Neotropics. Systematic Botany 10: 166-173.