Litsea glutinosa(Lour.) C.B.Rob.

Indian laurel

WFO wfo-0000365695 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Litsea glutinosa, photographed by Margaret Burger
fig. a Margaret Burger, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-04-29 / obs. 193700265
Litsea glutinosa, photographed by Augustin Soulard
fig. b Augustin Soulard, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 186170668
Litsea glutinosa, photographed by Cheng-Te Hsu
fig. c Cheng-Te Hsu, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166203502
Litsea glutinosa, photographed by Margaret Burger
fig. d Margaret Burger, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 166018178
Litsea glutinosa, photographed by Margaret Burger
fig. e Margaret Burger, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 166018295
Litsea glutinosa, photographed by Margaret Burger
fig. f Margaret Burger, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 166018325
Litsea glutinosa, photographed by Margaret Burger
fig. g Margaret Burger, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 156639340
Litsea glutinosa, photographed by Margaret Burger
fig. h Margaret Burger, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 156639388

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 29 botanical countries

Regions where Litsea glutinosa is native: China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Philippines, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia China South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSulawesiThailandVietnamWest HimalayaNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern Australia Andaman Is.Nicobar Is.
Native distribution of Litsea glutinosa, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Nicobar Is. NCB
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Northern Territory NTA AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 73 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Actinodaphne chinensis (Lam.) Nees
  • Camellia integrifolia Choisy
  • Cylicodaphne sebifera Blume
  • Decapenta involucrata Raf.
  • Dodecadenia robusta Zoll. & Moritzi
  • Glabraria litoralis Miq.
  • Iozoste chinensis (Lam.) Blume
  • Laurus crucifolia Noronha
  • Laurus involucrata J.Koenig ex Retz.
  • Lepidadenia wightiana Nees
  • Litsea apetala (Roxb.) Pers.
  • Litsea baracatanensis Elmer
  • Litsea brideliifolia Hayata
  • Litsea chinensis Lam.
  • Litsea citrifolia Juss.
  • Litsea fruticosa Span. ex Blume
  • Litsea geminata Blume
  • Litsea glabraria Juss.
  • Litsea glutinosa var. brachyphylla (Hand.-Mazz.) L.C.Wang
  • Litsea glutinosa var. brideliifolia (Hayata) Merr.
  • Litsea glutinosa var. glabraria (Juss.) Mudgal & K.K.Khanna
  • Litsea glutinosa var. glutinosa
  • Litsea glutinosa var. littoralis Koord. & Valeton
  • Litsea glutinosa var. longifolia (Haines) K.K.Khanna

and 49 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.