TOWARD AN IMPROVED CLASSIFICATION OF LAURACEAE

Published suprageneric classifications of Lauraceae and the characters used in these classifications are briefly reviewed. It is concluded t hat androecial characters such as number of stamens and number of anth er cells are often variable even within genera and that these characte rs should not be used in a classification of Lauraceae. As a first ste p toward an improved classification, Lauraceae are divided into two su bfamilies, one consisting of Cassytha, the other including all other g enera. The latter group is divided into three tribes, the Laureae, Per seeae, and Cryptocaryeae, based on characters of wood and bark anatomy and inflorescence structure.