Nectandra is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae. They are primarily Neotropical, ranging from northern Mexico through Central America, the Caribbean, and tropical South America to northern Argentina. They have fruit with various medical effects. Sweetwood is a common name for some plants in this genus.
Several species formerly placed in Nectandra are now placed in genus Damburneya.
Description
They are trees and bushes, hermaphrodites. The leaves are alternate, entire, glabrous or pubescent pinnatinervias with longitudinal grooves. Simple, alternate, petiole 0.9 to 2.2 cm in length canalicular limbo 11 to 28 cm long and 5 to 11 cm wide, with 16–28 secondary veins; base acute decurrent and revolute, entire, apex elliptically shaped, green dark, and very oblique secondary veins visible on the underside. Terminal buds are whitish. The inflorescences are pseudo-axillary and paniculate, the last divisions cimosas, mostly somewhat pubescent, the flowers are small, rarely more than 1 cm in diameter, and white or greenish tepals equal. The fruit is an ovoid, fleshy drupe with a reddish-pink dome, green when immature and black when ripe.
Ecology
Nectandra cissiflora berry.
A neotropical genus with 99 species, Nectandra is similar to Ocotea, to which it is closely related. The most characteristic distinguishing features are the position of the locules in the anther (in an arc in Nectandra and two rows in Ocotea); papillose pubescence is present; the Nectandra petals are fused at the base itself and fall as a unit in the old flowers; they are free in Nectandra but fall individually in Ocotea.
Medium trees reach 60 cm in diameter and 25 m in height with straight, slender, cylindrical boles with low low and thin protuberances at the base. The various species are located in the middle stratum of forests. Many species are used as timber.
The family Lauraceae was part of the Gondwanaland flora, and many of its genera migrated to South America via...
