Ocotea

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Lauraceae

  • Scientific Name

    Ocotea

  • Description

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    Genus Description - Trees or shrubs. Leaves usually slightly aromatic, alternate or congested near the ends of branches, entire, pinnately veined, coriaceous. Rowers bisexual or unisexual, in axillary panicles; tepals 6, equal or unequal, early deciduous; staminodes present or wanting; stamens 9, the inner series with a pair of glands; ovary sessile, depressed-globose, the style slender. Fruit an ellipsoid to globose berry, seated on or enclosed by a cupule.

  • Discussion

    Note: The distinction between Ocotea and Nectandra has always been problematic. The characters used for distinguishing these two genera show numerous instances of intermediate stages, making the distinction of them rather unclear. A modern revision by Rohwer (1993) of some of the species in this complex recognized Nectandra as distinct. However, he recognized a large number of overlapping characters between the two putative genera as well. Since most species in the flora area have been treated as either genera, I opt for a simpler approach, recognizing only Ocotea.

  • Distribution

    A genus of more than 500 species, mostly from tropical and subtropical America but also in tropical and southern Africa.

    Africa|