Ocotea

? Ocotea
Ocotea foetens (Terra Chã, Azores).
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Laurales Family: Lauraceae Genus: Ocotea
Species
See text

Ocotea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. The genus includes over 200 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America, the West Indies, also with a few species in Africa and Madagascar, and one, Ocotea foetens (Til or Tilo), native to the islands of Macaronesia.

Selected species

Ocotea aciphylla Ocotea acutifolia Ocotea albida Ocotea albopunctulata Ocotea amazonica Ocotea arechavaletae Ocotea arnottiana Ocotea bangii Ocotea benthamiana Ocotea bofo Ocotea bullata Ocotea camphoromoea Ocotea caudata Ocotea cernua Ocotea corymbosa Ocotea cuneifolia Ocotea cuprea Ocotea cymbarum Ocotea diospyrifolia Ocotea floribunda Ocotea foeniculacea

Ocotea foetens Ocotea glaziovii Ocotea gracilis Ocotea guianensis Ocotea heterochroma Ocotea illustris Ocotea infrafoveolata Ocotea javitensis Ocotea jelskii Ocotea lancifolia Ocotea laxiflora Ocotea leucoxylon Ocotea longifolia Ocotea mandonii Ocotea marmellensis Ocotea matogrossensis Ocotea minarum Ocotea monzonensis Ocotea moschata Ocotea nemodaphne Ocotea oblonga

Ocotea odorifera Ocotea pauciflora Ocotea porosa Ocotea porphyria Ocotea portoricensis Ocotea pretiosa Ocotea prunifolia Ocotea puberula Ocotea regeliana Ocotea rodundata Ocotea rubrinervis Ocotea rusbyana Ocotea sericea Ocotea smithiana Ocotea spathulata Ocotea spectabilis Ocotea spixiana Ocotea usambarensis Ocotea velloziana Ocotea wrightii

Cultivation and uses

Plants of the genus produce essential oils, and O. cymbarum, Peruvian Rosewood (O. caudata), Brazilian Sassafras (O. pretiosa), and East African Camphorwood (O. usambarensis) are exploited commercially. A few species are harvested for commercial timber, including O. puberula of Central and South America and O. bullata, known as Black Stinkwood or True Stinkwood, of South Africa.

References

• eFloras search results: Ocotea
• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ocotea
• USDA Plants Profile: Ocotea