Lauraceae

9.9

A large family of flowering trees and shrubs including bay trees and avocado

noun
/ˈlɔːrəˌsiː/

Specialized

: lauráceas

The Lauraceae family includes many well-known plants, such as the avocado and cinnamon trees.

Examples

This white crystalline powder, acquired from the latex of the Cinnamomum camphora tree of the Lauraceae family, is a very cheap, user-friendly, volatile, and non-toxic material for pyrolysis.

Academic text (2018)
Zone IV (915-1,525 meters) is fairly wet but more temperate subtropical forest, the dominant vegetation including mountain black plum, various Melastomaceae, and Lauraceae.

Academic text (1993)
Many species from the Lauraceae family, like bay leaves, are used in culinary dishes around the world.
Botanists classify plants such as the bay tree as part of the Lauraceae family.

Synonyms

laurel family

vsLauraceae

Specialized

7.0

A family of flowering plants that includes trees like laurel, avocado, and cinnamon

is the scientific family name used in formal contexts

family Lauraceae

vsLauraceae

Specialized

8.4

A group of mostly tropical trees and shrubs like laurels, cinnamon, and avocado trees

describes the group generally without stressing tropical distribution

Compounds

family Lauraceae

Specialized

8.4

A group of mostly tropical trees and shrubs like laurels, cinnamon, and avocado trees

Surface Forms

lauraceae singular

lauraceas plural

lauraceae plural

Morphology

Lauraceae = laurel (semi-transparent) = laur + aceae

Formed from 'laurel' plus the specialized botanical Latin suffix '-aceae' meaning 'family'; the suffix is technical, so learners may not infer 'family' from the form alone.

Etymology

Lauraceae comes from the Latin laurus meaning 'laurel' and the ending -aceae meaning 'family' used in plant names. So Lauraceae is the 'laurel family', which fits because it includes laurel-like trees and shrubs such as the bay tree, cinnamon and avocado.