Smelly laurel
| Smelly laurel | ||||||||||||
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Smelly laurel ( Ocotea foetens ) |
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| Ocotea foetens | ||||||||||||
| ( Aiton ) Benth. & Hook. f. |
Smelly laurel ( Ocotea foetens ) is a species of the genus Ocotea within the laurel family (Lauraceae).
description
Vegetative characteristics
Smelly laurel is a tree that reaches heights of up to 37 meters. The wood is hard, dark and is considered valuable. When fresh, it gives off an unpleasant odor.
The leaves are arranged alternately. The simple leaf blade is broadly elongated-lanceolate , with entire margins, dark green and shiny. A characteristic feature of the leaves are the two to three conspicuous, large glands with thick hairs in the axils of the lowest lateral nerves .
Generative characteristics
The flowering period extends from June to September. The flowers are arranged in panicles at the ends of the branches . The greenish-yellow, fragrant flowers are sixfold.
The fruits are about 2.5 inches tall, olive-shaped and fleshy. When ripe they are blue-black in color. The fruits sit in fruit cups similar to acorns .
Occurrence
Smelly laurel occurs on the Canary Islands of La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, Tenerife and Gran Canaria as well as on Madeira . The smelly laurel grows in the laurel forests and is more common in damp locations.
In fragmented areas of distribution on the Canary Islands and Madeira, the populations of this rare species are isolated and are continuously threatened by habitat loss and logging .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Ingrid Schönfelder and Peter Schönfelder : Kosmos-Atlas Mediterranean and Canary Islands flora . Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-440-06223-6 , p. 50 .
- ↑ a b Ocotea foetens in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2013.1. Listed by: World Conservation Monitoring Center, 1998. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
