a family of Lauraceae

The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family contains about 55 genera and over 2000 (perhaps as many as 4000) species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and Brazil. Most are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but Sassafras and one or two other genera are deciduous, and Cassytha is a genus of parasitic vines.