Camphora (plant)

Genus of flowering plants From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Camphora (plant)

Camphora is a genus of evergreen plants belonging to the laurel family Lauraceae, previously considered a synonym of Cinnamomum. The genus contains approximately 20 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia.[1]

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Camphora
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Camphora officinarum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Camphora
Fabr.
Species

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Synonyms
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Description

The species of Camphora are evergreen trees or shrubs. Their leaves are alternate and pinnately veined or weakly tripliveined, which differed from the opposite or subopposite and tripliveined leaves of Cinnamomum species.[1] The tepals do not persist when fruiting, unlike in Cinnamomum species, where they are persistent or at least partially persistent.[2] The flowers are produced in paniculate inflorescences with cymes bearing strictly opposite lateral flowers. The flowers are bisexual, with nine fertile stamens, plus three staminodes with conspicuous cordate or sagittate heads in the fourth androecial whorl. The fruit is cupulate.[1]

Taxonomy and phylogeny

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Perspective

The genus Camphora was described in 1759 by the German botanist Philipp Conrad Fabricius.[3] It was listed under synonymy of Cinnamomum s.l. for a long time, with the species classified in the Sect. Camphora of Cinnamomum. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2022 found that the large genus Cinnamomum was polyphyletic; in the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the following 18 species are placed in the resurrected genus Camphora:[1]

  • Camphora bodinieriCinnamomum bodinieri
  • Camphora brachythyrsaCinnamomum brachythyrsum
  • Camphora chartophyllaCinnamomum chartophyllum
  • Camphora foveolataCinnamomum foveolatum
  • Camphora glanduliferaCinnamomum glanduliferum
  • Camphora illicioidesCinnamomum ilicioides
  • Camphora longepaniculataCinnamomum longepaniculatum
  • Camphora micranthaCinnamomum micranthum
  • Camphora migaoCinnamomum migao
  • Camphora mollifoliaCinnamomum mollifolium
  • Camphora officinarumCinnamomum camphora – camphor laurel
  • Camphora parthenoxylonCinnamomum parthenoxylon – Selasian wood, Martaban camphor wood, saffrol laurel
  • Camphora philippinensisCinnamomum philippinense
  • Camphora platyphyllaCinnamomum platyphyllum
  • Camphora purpureaCinnamomum purpureum
  • Camphora rufotomentosaCinnamomum rufomentosum
  • Camphora septentrionalisCinnamomum septentrionale
  • Camphora tenuipilisCinnamomum tenuipile
  • Camphora kanahirae (≡Cinnamomum kanehirae) was subsequently transferred to this genus by other botanists.

The following species were classified in the Sect. Camphora of Cinnamomum s.l.,[2] but have now proven to be more closely related to true Cinnamomum:

  • Cinnamomum longipetiolatum
  • Cinnamomum saxatile

Its relationship with closely related taxa is shown below:[1]

Ocotea group

Camphora

Sassafras

References

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