Laurales

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Magnoliids
Ordo: Laurales
Familiae: Atherospermataceae - Calycanthaceae - Gomortegaceae - Hernandiaceae - Lauraceae - Monimiaceae - Siparunaceae

Name

Laurales Juss. ex Bercht. & J. Presl, Prir. Rostlin, 235. (1820)

Typus: Laurus L. Sp. Pl. 1: 369. (1753)

Synonyms

Atherospermatales Martius
Calycanthales Mart. (1835)
Gyrocarpales Dumort. (1829)
Hernandiales Martius
Illigerales Martius
Monimiales Dumort. (1829)
Lauranae Takhtajan
Calycanthidae C. Y. Wu
Lauridae C. Y. Wu
Lauropsida Horaninov

References

Jussieu, A.L. de 1820. O Prirozenosti Rostlin 235.
Renner, S.S. 1999. Circumscription and phylogeny of the Laurales: evidence from molecular and morphological data. American Journal of Botany 86(9): 1301-1315. Full text PDF Reference page.
Renner, S.S. 2005. Variation in diversity among Laurales, Early Cretaceous to present. Biol. Skr. 55: 441–458. in Friis, I., & Balslev, H. (eds), Proceedings of a Symposium on Plant Diversity and Complexity Patterns - Local, Regional and Global Dimensions. Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, Copenhagen.
Tropicos.org 2014. Laurales. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 29 Jan. 2014.
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. 2016. An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 181(1): 1–20. DOI: 10.1111/boj.12385 Reference page.
Stevens, P.F. 2001 onwards. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 14, July 2017 [and more or less continuously updated since]. Online. Reference page.

Vernacular names
azərbaycanca: Dəfnəçiçəklilər
беларуская: Лаўракветныя
català: Laural
čeština: Vavřínotvaré
dansk: Laurbær-ordenen
Deutsch: Lorbeerartige
فارسی: برگ‌بوسانان
Nordfriisk: Loorbeeroortagen
עברית: עראים
magyar: Babérvirágúak
日本語: クスノキ目
한국어: 녹나무목
македонски: Ловоровидни
русский: Лавроцветные
中文: 樟目

The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. They are magnoliids, related to the Magnoliales.

The order includes about 2500-2800 species from 85-90 genera, which comprise seven families of trees and shrubs. Most of the species are tropical and subtropical, though a few genera reach the temperate zone. The best known species in this order are those of the Lauraceae (for example bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, and Sassafras), and the ornamental shrub Calycanthus of the Calycanthaceae.

The earliest lauraceous fossils are from the early Cretaceous. It is possible that the ancient origin of this order is one of the reasons for its highly diverged morphology. Presently no single morphological property is known, which would unify all the members of Laurales. The presently accepted classification is based on molecular and genetic analysis.
Classification

The first botanist to think of the Laurales as a natural group was H. Hallier in 1905. He viewed them as being derived from the Magnoliales. During some or all of the 20th century, the Laurales generally included Amborella and the plants now classified in Austrobaileyales and Chloranthaceae. They were not removed until the advent of molecular data in the late 20th century; their previous inclusion made it harder to determine the relationships within the Laurales and between the Laurales and other groups.[2]

The following families are included in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system (APG III):[1]
order Laurales

family Atherospermataceae
family Calycanthaceae
family Gomortegaceae
family Hernandiaceae
family Lauraceae
family Monimiaceae
family Siparunaceae

Magnoliids

Canellales     Piperales         Laurales   Calycanthaceae         Siparunaceae       Atherospermataceae     Gomortegaceae           Hernandiaceae       Monimiaceae     Lauraceae               Magnoliales

 
 
The current composition and phylogeny of the Laurales.[3][4]

Under the older Cronquist system, the Laurales included a slightly different set of families (current placement, where different, in brackets):

Family Amborellaceae (Family Amborellaceae, unplaced)
Family Calycanthaceae
Family Gomortegaceae
Family Hernandiaceae
Family Idiospermaceae (= Calycanthaceae pro parte)
Family Lauraceae
Family Monimiaceae (Cronquist included Atherospermataceae and Siparunaceae in Monimiaceae)
Family Trimeniaceae (Austrobaileyales)

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laurales.

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x.
Susanne S. Renner (1999). "Circumscription and phylogeny of the Laurales: evidence from molecular and morphological data". American Journal of Botany. 86 (9): 1301–1315. doi:10.2307/2656778. JSTOR 2656778. PMID 10487818. S2CID 791936. Full text (pdf).
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2003). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 141 (4): 399–436. doi:10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.t01-1-00158.x.

Soltis, P. S.; Soltis, D. E. (2004). "The origin and diversification of Angiosperms". American Journal of Botany. 91 (10): 1614–1626. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1614. PMID 21652312.

K.J. Perleb (1826). Lehrbuch der Naturgeschichte des Pflanzenreichs p. 174. Magner, Freiburg im Breisgau, Deutschland.
Renner, Susanne S. (May 2001) Laurales. In: Nature Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. London: Nature Publishing Group. doi:10.1038/npg.els.0003695, Full text (pdf).
Endress, P.K.; Igersheim, A. (1997). "Gynoecium diversity and systematics of the Laurales". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 125 (2): 93–168. doi:10.1006/bojl.1997.0113.