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Beilschmiedia is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The best-known species to gardeners in temperate areas are B. berteroana and B. miersii because of their frost tolerance. Seeds of B. bancroftii were used as a source of food by Australian Aborigines. Timbers of some species are very valuable.
Beilschmiedia falls within the Lauraceae, a family of aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs. Many botanical species are similar in foliage to the Lauraceae due to convergent evolution. Those plants are adapted to high rainfall and humidity. The patterns of speciation in the Lauraceae indicate, since the onset of aridification on the continents 15 million years ago (Mya), rainforest species diversified. One of the products of aridification is the isolation of populations and this likely caused the increase in the rate of speciation as found in the Lauraceae. This genus has species adapted to the laurel forest habitat, so common in the Lauraceae and species adapted to a more Mediterranean-type climate with a dry season with lower rainfall. The morphology of sclerophyllous species is divergent from other humid tropical climate species of the genus. The greatest diversity of species and a greater presence of the genus is given in cloud forest and tropical rainforest in Asia and Southeast Asia.
Beilschmiedia ambigua · Canary Ash · Southern Acorn Tree · Beilschmiedia bracteata · Beilschmiedia brunnea · Beilschmiedia castrisinensis · Beilschmiedia collina · Grey Walnut · Beilschmiedia gaboonensis · Beilschmiedia giorgii · Beilschmiedia insignis · Beilschmiedia kweo
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Beilschmiedia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
