OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Magnoliids: Laurales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Camphora officinarum   FAMILY Lauraceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cinnamomum camphora   FAMILY Lauraceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Cinnamomum camphora

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Cinnamomum camphora

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3 (1997)

Cinnamomum camphora

SYNONYMOUS WITH (INVALID NAME) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Camphora camphora

 

COMMON NAME:
Camphortree


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Camphora officinarum, Camphortree

JK Marlow    jkm150301_801

March    Charleston County    SC

image of Camphora officinarum, Camphortree

JK Marlow    jkm150301_802

March    Charleston County    SC

Leaves glabrous, long-petioled, spicy-aromatic when crushed, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Camphora officinarum, Camphortree

JK Marlow    jkm150301_805b

March    Charleston County    SC

Leaf margins entire, yellowish-green, and wavy, per A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests (Miller, Chambliss, & Lowenstein, 2010).

image of Camphora officinarum, Camphortree

JK Marlow    jkm150301_805c

March    Charleston County    SC

Buds 1.2cm long, sharp-pointed, with overlapping scales, per A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests (Miller, Chambliss, & Lowenstein, 2010).

image of Camphora officinarum, Camphortree

James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org    bug_5421916

June        

image of Camphora officinarum, Camphortree

James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org    bug_5421918

October        

Many fleshy dangling drupes, turning black with a funnel-shaped green base, per A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests (Miller, Chambliss, & Lowenstein, 2010).

image of Camphora officinarum, Camphortree

James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org    bug_5421917

November        

Bark brownish, fissured, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Camphora officinarum, Camphortree

James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org    bug_1539078

Month Unknown        

Twigs green, glabrous, aromatic, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Camphora officinarum, Camphortree

Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org    bug_5284094

Month Unknown        

image of Camphora officinarum, Camphortree

T. Davis Sydnor, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org    bug_5497873

Month Unknown        SC

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Camphora officinarum   FAMILY Lauraceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cinnamomum camphora   FAMILY Lauraceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cinnamomum camphora

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Cinnamomum camphora

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3
Cinnamomum camphora

SYNONYMOUS WITH (INVALID NAME) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Camphora camphora

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

330

Tree
Perennial

Habitat: Disturbed areas, suburban woodlands, increasingly in natural forests, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: east Asia

Common in GA Coastal Plain, uncommon in SC Coastal Plain (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.


INVASIVE

This plant is causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

 

LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Alternate
Petioles to 1" long

FLOWER:
Spring
Greenish-white/ Yellowish
3-merous
6 tepals?
9 stamens, 3 staminodes
Superior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Bluish-black
Drupe

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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