Lauromerrillia C. K. Allen.

Evergreen trees or shrubs. Terminal buds mostly conspicuous. Leaves opposite, subopposite, or alternate, leathery, thickly leathery, or papery, very rarely membranous, entire, pinninerved, veins usually conspicuous. Flowers small, bisexual. Inflorescences short, mostly cymose-paniculate, sometimes as axillary flower-bundles or subracemose, sometimes covered by imbricate caducous bracts when young; peduncles and pedicels enlarged or not enlarged after anthesis. Perianth tube short; perianth segments 6(or 8), equal or almost equal. Fertile stamens (6 or 8 or)9; filaments of 1st and 2nd whorls glandless, those of 3rd whorl generally each with 2 stalked or stalkless glands at base, anthers 2-celled, anther cells of 1st and 2nd whorls introrse, those of 3rd whorl extrorse. Staminodes of 4th whorl, ovoid, cordate, or deltoid, shortly stalked. Ovary attenuate at apex into a style. Fruits baccate, ellipsoid, ovoid-ellipsoid, cylindric, obovoid, or subglobose; fruiting pedicels swollen or not swollen; perianth in fruit generally wholly deciduous.

Beilschmiedia supraglandulosa Y. K. Li (Guihaia 5: 344. 1985) was described from SE Guizhou (Sandu) but could not be treated here because no material was seen by the present authors.

About 300 species: mainly in tropical Africa, SE Asia, Australasia, and America; 39 species (33 endemic) in China.

(Authors: Li Xiwen (李锡文 Li Hsi-wen), Li Jie (李捷); Henk van der Werff)