Lauraceae is the Laurel family in plant phylogeny, containing the common bay laurel of the Mediterranean, as well as the California Bay and many tropical plants. Most of the diversity of this family is confined to the tropics. The leaves can be alternate or opposite but are never 2-ranked. The flower parts often come in 6'es, which is usually a charactaristic of monocots. Laurels are rather primitive compared to other angiosperms; and are closely related to magnolias. The fruits of this family are generally a drupe or 1-sided berry