Florida Forest Trees

Lancewood  (Nectandra coriacea)

Lancewood, also known as Florida nectandra or Jamaica nectandra, is a droopy-branched tree found along shorelines and coastal hammocks and pinelands. Lancewood is native to south Florida, the Keys, West Indies, and the Bahamas. It also occurs to a limited degree in central Florida coastal areas.

Lancewood belongs to the Lauraceae family, an aromatic family of trees. The leaves have a bay fragrance when they are crushed. It is used for urban landscaping and is attractive to a variety of songbirds for its fruit and nesting cover.

Lancewood's brown wood is used in cabinetwork but otherwise has no commercial value.

  

Twigs and leaves

 Identifying Characteristics
Size/Form:
 Lancewood is an evergreen shrub or small tree that reaches heights of 30' to 40'. It is often multi-branched in its natural community but can be trained to have a single-trunk form for landscape uses. The narrow, rounded crown has stout, spreading branches.
Leaves:
 The leaves are simple, alternately arranged, and 3" to 6" long and 1" to 2" wide. The oblong to lanceolate leaves are glossy, dark green above and light green, often with a reddish tinge, and somewhat hairy underneath. The leaf base is rounded or broadly wedged and the leaf tip tapers to a long point. The leaf margin is entire, thickened, and slightly rolled under.
Fruit:
 The fruit is a nearly round, lustrous, dark blue or black drupe that is ½" wide. The drupe's thin, dry flesh surrounds a reddish-brown pit.
Bark:
 The thin, reddish-brown bark has many, irregular patches of extra growth.
Habitat:
 Lancewood grows in tropical and coastal hammocks, pinelands, and shorelines.


Photos
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Tree
Leaf


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