Camphora (plant)

The species of Camphora are evergreen trees or shrubs. Their leaves are alternate and pinnately veined or weakly tripliveined, which differed from the opposite or subopposite and tripliveined leaves of Cinnamomum species.^[1] The tepals do not persist when fruiting, unlike in Cinnamomum species, where they are persistent or at least partially persistent.^[2] The flowers are produced in paniculate inflorescences with cymes bearing strictly opposite lateral flowers. The flowers are bisexual, with nine fertile stamens, plus three staminodes with conspicuous cordate or sagittate heads in the fourth androecial whorl. The fruit is cupulate.^[1]

The genus Camphora was described in 1759 by the German botanist Philipp Conrad Fabricius.^[3] It was listed under synonymy of Cinnamomum s.l. for a long time, with the species classified in the Sect. Camphora of Cinnamomum. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2022 found that the large genus Cinnamomum was polyphyletic; in the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the following 18 species are placed in the resurrected genus Camphora:^[1]

• Camphora bodinieri ≡ Cinnamomum bodinieri
• Camphora brachythyrsa ≡ Cinnamomum brachythyrsum
• Camphora chartophylla ≡ Cinnamomum chartophyllum
• Camphora foveolata ≡ Cinnamomum foveolatum
• Camphora glandulifera ≡ Cinnamomum glanduliferum
• Camphora illicioides ≡ Cinnamomum ilicioides
• Camphora longepaniculata ≡ Cinnamomum longepaniculatum
• Camphora micrantha ≡ Cinnamomum micranthum
• Camphora migao ≡ Cinnamomum migao
• Camphora mollifolia ≡ Cinnamomum mollifolium
• Camphora officinarum ≡ Cinnamomum camphora – camphor laurel
• Camphora parthenoxylon ≡ Cinnamomum parthenoxylon – Selasian wood, Martaban camphor wood, saffrol laurel
• Camphora philippinensis ≡ Cinnamomum philippinense
• Camphora platyphylla ≡ Cinnamomum platyphyllum
• Camphora purpurea ≡ Cinnamomum purpureum
• Camphora rufotomentosa ≡ Cinnamomum rufomentosum
• Camphora septentrionalis ≡ Cinnamomum septentrionale
• Camphora tenuipilis ≡ Cinnamomum tenuipile

• Camphora kanahirae (≡Cinnamomum kanehirae) was subsequently transferred to this genus by other botanists.

The following species were classified in the Sect. Camphora of Cinnamomum s.l.,^[2] but have now proven to be more closely related to true Cinnamomum:

• Cinnamomum longipetiolatum
• Cinnamomum saxatile

Its relationship with closely related taxa is shown below:^[1]