! A revision of the genus Litsea Lam.

(Lauraceae) in Thailand
"

41 (1 of 80)

A revision of the genus Litsea Lam. (Lauraceae) in Thailand

CHATCHAI NGERNSAENGSARUAY*, DAVID J. MIDDLETON** & KONGKANDA CHAYAMARIT***

ABSTRACT. A taxonomic revision of the genus Litsea in Thailand is presented. Thirty-five species of Thai Litsea are included in
this treatment. A key to the species is presented, nomenclatural information is provided, all names are typified, and all species are
described. Distribution and ecological data as available are provided.

INTRODUCTION medium-sized trees, or occasionally shrubs. The

Litsea is one of the largest genera in the
family Lauraceae, the species of which form an
important component of tropical forests. It is
estimated that there are over 300 species, mostly in
tropical Asia but with a few species in the islands
of the Pacific, Australia and in North and Central
America (Van der Werff, 2001). The most significant
recently published regional revisions are for China
with 74 species (Huang et al., 2008) and Nepal
with 11 species (Pendry, 2011).
In Thailand, there are few references on this
genus and a taxonomic revision of the genus has
not been done. In the previous studies Smitinand
(1980) listed botanical and vernacular names of 19
species of Litsea in Thailand and the Forest
Herbarium, Royal Forest Department (2001) listed
22 species in an update of the same publication.
Five new records for Thailand were published by
Ngernsaengsaruay et al. (2005). However, for the
most part Litsea in Thailand is still poorly known
and the actual number of species in Thailand has
not been properly documented. Therefore, we present
a taxonomic revision of the genus Litsea in Thailand.
GENERAL MORPHOLOGY
1. Habit
Thai Litsea species are mostly small to
trees can be divided by height into 3 groups as
follows: small trees (3–10 m), medium-sized trees
(10–20 m) and large trees (20–30 m).
A shrubby habit is found in Litsea phuwuaensis
(0.5–2.5 m). Litsea hirsutissima (1–5 m), L. lancifolia
(2–8 m), L. mollis (1.5–6 m) and L. nuculanea (2–5
m) can be shrubs or small trees. Litsea umbellata
(1–13 m) ranges from being a shrub to a medium-
sized tree.
Litsea hookeri (8 m), L. johorensis (3–8 m),
L. kerrii (8 m), L. kurzii (5–8 m), L. pseudo-umbellata
(4–8 m), L. tomentosa (8 m) and L. variabilis (3–8
m) are all small trees.
Litsea beusekomii (3–12 m), L. cubeba (4–15
m), L. glutinosa (4–15 m), L. laeta (3–15 m), L.
martabanica (3–12 m), L. membranifolia (6–15
m), L. monopetala (5–20 m), L. myristicaefolia
(6–20 m), L. pseudo-elongata (3–12 m), L.
semecarpifolia (5–12 m) and L. verticillata (3–12
m) are small to medium-sized trees.
Litsea cordata (15–20 m), L. firma (15–20
m), L. ochracea (10–20 m) and L. resinosa (10–20
m) are medium-sized trees.
Litsea elliptica (10–30 m), L. grandis (10–25
m), L. khasyana (12–30 m), L. pierrei (15–30 m)
and L. punctulata (15–25 m) are medium to large-
sized trees.

* Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
** Royal Botanic Garden, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR, Scotland.
*** The Forest Herbarium, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, 61 Phahonyothin Rd., Chatuchak,
Bangkok 10900, Thailand.

A REVISION OF THE GENUS LITSEA LAM. (LAURACEAE) IN THAILAND (C. NGERNSAENGSARUAY, D. J. MIDDLETON & K. CHAYAMARIT)
41

Litsea castanea (20–30 m) and L. machilifolia L. umbellata and L. variabilis. The blade is obovate,
(20–30 m) are large trees. obovate-oblong, obovate-lanceolate, elliptic, broadly