Lauracese

Lauracese, a natural order of dicotyledonous trees, comprising some 400 or 500 species in about fifty genera, mostly tropical and aromatic. They have exstipulate leaves dotted with oil-glands; inconspicuous flowers with eight to twelve stamens, the anthers of which open by recurved valves; and a superior ovary giving rise to a one-chambered, one-seeded drupaceous fruit. Among the chief members of the order are Laurus nobilis, the bay; Neetandra, the greenheart; the avocado pear, the camphor-laurel, the cassia, the cinnamon, and the sassafras, which are mentioned separately.