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Key to Lauraceae

Lauraceae

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1 Twining vines (orange, yellow, or greenish); leaves reduced to scales
1 Shrubs or trees; leaves present and well-developed.
  2 Leaves deciduous; flowers unisexual; [tribe Laureae].
    3 Some of the leaves with 1-2 (-5) rounded lobes; small to medium trees
    3 None of the leaves lobed; medium to large shrubs.
      4 Leaves 4-16 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, obovate, ovate, or broadly elliptic
      4 Leaves 1.2-4 cm long, 0.5-1.5 (-1.9) cm wide, narrowly elliptic
  2 Leaves evergreen; flowers bisexual; [tribe Perseeae].
        5 Leaf surfaces glabrous, bright green; leaf venation either 3-nerved from at or near the base of the blade or pinnate; crushed leaves with the odor of camphor
          6 Leaves with 3 main veins from near then base (these with 0-2 obvious lateral veins); principal vein axils with yellow, thickened, and pubescent domatia visible on either the lower or upper surface of the leaf; buds with bud scales
          6 Leaves pinnately veined (the 2 lateral veins with obvious and 3 or more lateral veins); principal vein axils lacking domatia; buds lacking bud scales
        5 Leaf surfaces pubescent to glabrate or glabrous, dark to medium green; leaf venation strongly pinnate; principal vein axils lacking yellow domatia; crushed fresh leaves with the odor of bay.
             7 Leaves mostly more than 15 cm long; drupe > 5 cm long
             7 Leaves less than 15 cm long; drupe < 3 cm long.
               8 Leaf lower surface moderately to densely pubescent with ascending or appressed hairs (in some species these so appressed or small as to need 10× magnification to reliably detect); fruiting pedicel and cupule remaining tan or turning somewhat reddish; [collectively widespread in the Coastal Plain and rarely more inland provinces]
               8 Leaf lower surface glabrous; fruiting cupule and/or pedicel turning bright red at maturity; [of s. peninsular FL only].
                 9 Fruiting cupule with a prominent circumferential flange near the rim; fertile stamens 3 (+ 3 glandular staminodes), the anthers 2-celled

Key K: holoparasites and holomycotrophs

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1 Stems thin, flexible, twining, yellow to bright orange; plants parasitic on the stems of other vascular plants via above-ground haustoria.
  2 Inflorescence a spike; flowers 3-merous (sepals 6, petals 0, stamens 9, carpel 1); fruit a 1-seeded fleshy drupe; fresh plants aromatic; [Basal Angiosperms]; [peninsular FL only]
  2 Inflorescence a cymose cluster; flowers 4-5-merous (sepals 4-5, petals 4-5, stamens 4-5, carpels 2 and fused); fruit a 1-4-seeded dry capsule; fresh plants not aromatic; [Eudicots]; [widespread]
1 Stems erect, stiff, straight, variously colored (tan, red, violet, brown, white, pink); plants mycotrophic (or indirectly parasitic via a fungal intermediary), attached to fungi underground.
    3 Flowers radially symmetrical.
      4 Scale leaves alternate (spiral); [collectively widespread]
      4 Scale leaves opposite; [s. FL only]
    3 Flowers bilaterally symmetrical.
        5 Petals 3, separate; stamen 1; capsule 1-locular, pendent when mature, opening by 3 slits; [Monocots]
        5 Petals fused into a tube, with 4-5 lobes; stamens 4; capsule 2-locular, ascending or spreading when mature, opening by 2 valves; [Eudicots]