The Lauraceae or laurel family is a group of flowering plants in the order Laurales. It includes the bay laurel and its closest relatives.

The family has over 3000 species of flowering plants in over 50 genera worldwide.^[1] They mostly live in warm temperate and tropical regions, especially southeast Asia and South America. Most are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but one or two genera such as Sassafras are deciduous, and Cassytha is a genus of parasitic vines.