Laurales

Laurales is an order of flowering plants within the magnoliids, closely related to the Magnoliales, comprising roughly 2,500 to 2,800 species in 85 to 90 genera across seven families. Most species grow in tropical and subtropical regions, though some extend into temperate zones; the best-known family, Lauraceae, includes bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, and sassafras, while Calycanthaceae contributes the ornamental shrub Calycanthus. The earliest lauraceous fossils date to the early Cretaceous, and because no single visible trait unites every member, modern classification of the order relies on molecular and genetic evidence.