common name for the flowering plant family, Lauraceae, widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, and for its representative genus Laurus. The laurel family contains about 45 genera and 2000 species. Several well-known and important genera of the family also occur in temperate areas, for example, Cinnamomum, CAMPHOR, and CINNAMON, (qq.v.); SASSAFRAS, (q.v.); Persea, AVOCADO, (q.v.); and Lindera, spice-bush. The laurel, or bay, Laurus nobilis, also called bay laurel and bayberry, is a large evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean region; it has been important since classical times and is now widely cultivated in warm temperate areas as an ornamental and for its aromatic leaves, which are used in cooking. California bay, Umbellularia californica, also a member of the Lauraceae, yields a valuable wood.

The family is placed in the order Laurales. The order contains 8 families with about 2500 species distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. Many species exhibit botanically interesting structures, and some are of economic value because of the useful products derived from them.

Although a great diversity of form occurs in the order, several features are common to most of its members and distinguish the order from others. All Laurales are woody trees, shrubs, or vines, and all produce aromatic oils in their tissues. The stamens (male floral structures) have appendages that produce nectar, and the pistil (female floral part) often consists of a single carpel (ovary receptacle).

The Laurales are believed to resemble the earliest flowering plants in their woody nature, floral characteristics, and details of anatomy and pollen structure. In addition, the order has a long fossil history, with specimens similar to plants of several living genera having been found in rocks more than 65 million years old. Laurales, however, are considered more advanced than the Magnoliales, another primitive group of woody flowering plants (see MAGNOLIA,), which in contrast to the Laurales have stamens and carpels that more closely resemble leaves.

Of the remaining 7 families in the order, one, Monimiaceae, has about 450 species, and the rest have a total of fewer than 100, with 3 having only one species each. They are mostly of restricted distribution and little economic importance.

Unrelated plants also called laurel include the mountain laurel and several other members of the genus KALMIA, (q.v.) and several members of the cherry genus Prunus.

Plants of the order Laurales are members of the class Magnoliopsida (see DICOTS,) in the division Magnoliophyta (see ANGIOSPERM).