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.[1] 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.[2] Timbers of some species are very valuable.
Beilschmiedia is a genus of about 240-250 species,[3] that are trees or shrubs; it has about 80 species in tropical Africa and Madagascar.[4] They are commonly canopy trees, growing at altitudes from near sea level to 2200 m. The trees grow in well-developed rainforests, and in warm or temperate forests on poorer sedimentary soils.[5][6][7] Most species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions. They are widespread in tropical Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.[7] The timbers of some species is very valuable.[citation needed]
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.[8] 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.[1][3] In Madagascar, the genus Beilschmiedia is particularly important in the island flora, and their species were isolated when the island was separated from the African continent.
The genus Beilschmiedia is present in a greater climatic distribution area than other genera of Lauraceae, Beilschmiedia species grow well in moist, well-drained ground, and tolerate a variety of soil types, and attain a maximum in tropical and wetter areas of distribution, but their pattern of speciation results in some cases from the product of aridification of the habitat. Some Beilschmiedia species are adapted to drier conditions than the typical Lauraceae.[3] Some endangered relict species are living in temperate areas[5] and are distributed in Mediterranean climate, and tropical and subtropical lowland forests and montane rainforest.[8]
Shade-loving B. mannii grows in riverine and swamp forest, or in evergreen primary and secondary forest. B. gaboonensis, B. lebrunii, and B. nitida are included in subgenus Hufelandia of Beilschmiedia. B. variabilis and B. zenkeri are included in section Acrothecon.[4]
Beilschmiedia gaboonensis is a medium-sized tree up to 30 m tall with a bole diameter up to 60 cm. It is distributed from Nigeria to DR Congo and occurs in wet and marshy locations in lowland rainforest. B. lebrunii is a rare tree up to 15 m tall with a bole diameter up to 30 cm, occurring in DR Congo in forest at 1450–1700 m altitude. B. nitida is a shrub or small tree up to 8 m tall, distributed in Cameroon and Congo.