''Kubitzia'' is an American neotropical

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur ma ...

with two

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Description

They are evergreen

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s up to 25 m high with spicy odor and

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

s. The leaves are alternate, entire, elliptical or narrowly elliptical glossy in appearance, pointed oval in shape with an ''apical mucro'', or 'drip tip', which permit the leaves to shed water despite the humidity, allowing perspiration and respiration from plant in wet

laurel forest Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and elo ...

habitat. The fruit is a berry dispersed mostly by birds. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in Caribbean islands, Central America, and northern to central

. The genus was described by published in ''Taxon'' 35 (1): 165 in 1986. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is '' Kubitzkia mezii'' ( Kosterman.) Van der Werff.

Ecology

The neotropical genus ''Kubitzia'' of the family Lauraceae currently includes 2 species, the differences are ecological adaptations to different environments over a relatively dry-wet climate. Species in less humid environment are smaller or less robust, with less abundant and thinner foliage and have oleifera cells that give trees a more fragrant aroma. They are poorly defined botanically. The most known trees are used by the timber industry. The wood has a high commercial value. The genera Kubitzia is closely related to genera Dicypellium, Phyllostemonodaphne, Systemonodaphne and Urbanodendron. Its distribution extends from the islands of the Antilles in the Caribbean throughout the Guianas and the Amazon region but also in the Pacific coastal areas of Colombia. They grow mostly in tropical forests and Andean

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

. They do not form large stands but rather small groups of trees with a density of up to one individual per five hectares. Due to the low density, exploitation of the natural populations is to the detriment of the rainforest.

Overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...

is ease due to the distribution in inaccessible rainforest regions and its low density, it is very hard to survey population trends in figures, but overexploitation is evident. Proposals of exploitation must be made before overexploitation of nature poblations causes problems for commercial utilisation. The fruit, a berry.

Selected species

* '' Kubitzkia macrantha'' ( Kosterm.) * '' Kubitzkia mezii'' (Kosterm.) van der Werff

References

External links

* Funk, V., T. Hollowell, P. Berry, C. Kelloff, and S.N. Alexander 2007. Checklist of the Plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana). Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 55: 1–584. Lauraceae genera {{Laurales-stub