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Ocotea foetens; photograph Javier Sanchez Portero, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SAJavier Sanchez Portero, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ocotea foetens (Aiton) Baill.

Lauraceae · Canary Is., Madeira

English names not checked: Wikidata's common names were not read for this page.

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Ocotea foetens, photograph Ixitixel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsOcotea foetens, photograph Hedwig Storch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsOcotea foetens, photograph Javier Sanchez Portero, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsOcotea foetens, photograph Lichinga, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsOcotea foetens, photograph Harlock81, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsOcotea foetens, photograph Hansueli Krapf, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons 12 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Coldest month, mean nightly low
12.7°C
Feb at the habitat, not a floor; extremes not used (sea cell) CHELSA
Warmest month, mean daily high
23°C
Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
727mm
7 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
18–47DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet winters: the rain comes October to February, read as a winter growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Ocotea foetens, commonly called til or stinkwood is a species of tree in the family Lauraceae. It is evergreen and grows up to 40 m tall. It is a common constituent of the laurisilva forests of Madeira and the Canary Islands. Leaf fossils of this species are known from the Mio-Pleistocene of Madeira Island.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Ocotea foetens", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a winter growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (551 mm of 728 mm) falls in October to February, cooler than the year (wet-season mean 15.8 °C against a yearly mean of 17.1 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: April to August.

Rain

728 mm in the median year at the habitat, 551 mm of it October to February. Wettest month December at 154 mm, driest month July at 5 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 373 mm to 2,474 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 727 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 728 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 47 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 14, the highest 90th-percentile month 50).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 12.7 °C in February (across the grid cells of the range 8.5 °C to 15.6 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 22.8 °C in August (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: none read. The nearest figure is 12.7 °C, the coldest month's mean nightly low, February, in the median year (CHELSA); a month's mean of its nightly lows is warmer than the nights a floor is read from. The daily extremes were read at a weather cell that is mostly sea and are not used.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 61 to 64% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. No cold floor is read without a daily extremes series; the coldest month's mean nightly low named in its sentence is not one. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Ocotea foetens through the yearWarmest month August, mean daily high 23 °C; coldest month February, mean nightly low 12.7 °C; 728 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.5°10°15°20°25°°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 18–47RH 61–64%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 71 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C15 / 11–1715 / 11–1716 / 12–1716 / 13–1817 / 15–1920 / 19–2122 / 21–2323 / 22–2422 / 20–2320 / 17–2218 / 14–2016 / 12–18
Night °C13 / 9–1613 / 9–1613 / 9–1614 / 10–1615 / 11–1717 / 15–1919 / 18–2220 / 18–2219 / 16–2118 / 14–2016 / 11–1914 / 10–17
Rain mm93 / 54–290110 / 56–29778 / 43–25242 / 20–21017 / 6–1228 / 2–655 / 0–216 / 2–2921 / 7–13780 / 35–288114 / 61–344154 / 70–427
DLI20 / 16–2426 / 22–3034 / 30–3840 / 36–4345 / 42–4846 / 45–5047 / 46–4943 / 41–4637 / 33–4028 / 24–3221 / 17–2618 / 14–22
RH %61 / 54–6562 / 53–6561 / 51–6463 / 54–6663 / 53–6763 / 48–6761 / 39–6762 / 41–6763 / 50–6664 / 56–6762 / 56–6663 / 58–67

The daily extremes were read at a NASA POWER cell that is 12% land: neither it nor the next candidates whose coldest month's mean nightly low is within 2 °C of the median across cells sit in a POWER cell that is mostly land, and the rule reads a cold floor only from a cell that is mostly land, so none is read for this species. Nor is the coldest month's mean nightly low taken as one: it is a mean of a month's lows, not its coldest night. What that cell gave over 44 years: absolute minimum 8.7 °C, 1st-percentile night 12.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 24.2 °C.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 71 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (411 records in those cells; 3 more cells hold records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cells are left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1146:3263 (32.675, -16.825). Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 71 distinct grid cells holding 411 of the 414 in-range records (3 further cells with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1146:3263 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells, though its NASA POWER cell is only 12% land and none of the 11 next candidates within 2 °C of the median was mostly land); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 32.50_-16.875, lapse-corrected +234 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 362 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.

This species has no GBIF key of its own. Its records are GBIF's under the key of the name Kew's World Checklist holds as this plant: 4175655 (Mespilodaphne foetens (Aiton) Meisn., 928 records). No name was matched to GBIF; the keys are read from Kew's synonymy. How.

NativeCanary Is., Madeira · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker32.754, -17.017 · in the densest population, 273 records (61% of those in range)
Kew's description“tree” · “subtropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 449 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 411 of them in the land cells it reads, of 414 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 229 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 3 km away. 117 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 35 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 4175655 (Mespilodaphne foetens (Aiton) Meisn.): Kew's file holds it as Mespilodaphne foetens (Aiton) Meisn. (synonym under Ocotea foetens (Aiton) Baill.); 928 records, from GBIF's download.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 449 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Ocotea foetens, photograph 1did not loadOcotea foetens, photograph 2did not loadOcotea foetens, photograph 3did not loadOcotea foetens, photograph 4did not loadOcotea foetens, photograph 5did not loadOcotea foetens, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: Ixitixel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Hedwig Storch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Javier Sanchez Portero, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Lichinga, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Harlock81, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Hansueli Krapf, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Ranunculus cortusifolius Ranunculus cortusifolius Azores buttercup Photo: CC BY, Lídia CarreraHypericum glandulosum Hypericum glandulosum Hypericaceae Photo: CC BY, Vítor JorgeRumex maderensis Rumex maderensis Madeira sorrel Photo: CC BY, Daniel Heras GonzálezLaurus novocanariensis Laurus novocanariensis Canary Islands Laurel Photo: CC BY, Paul DufourAsplenium hemionitis Asplenium hemionitis Ivy fern Photo: CC BY, Max FussanCedronella canariensis Cedronella canariensis Canary Islands balm Photo: CC BY, Leon Perrie

Other Ocotea 10 in the reference

Ocotea acutifolia Ocotea acutifolia Lauraceae Photo: CC BY, Felipe HortonOcotea bullata Ocotea bullata Black stinkwood Photo: CC BY, Karen EichholzOcotea catharinensis Ocotea catharinensis Lauraceae Photo: CC BY, Fabrício Mil Homens RiellaOcotea guianensis Ocotea guianensis Lauraceae Photo: CC BY, Guillaume DelaitreOcotea lentii Ocotea lentii Lauraceae Photo: CC BY, David A. Rodríguez AriasOcotea macrophylla Ocotea macrophylla Lauraceae Photo: CC BY, Neptalí Ramírez Marcial Ocotea macropoda Lauraceae Ocotea oblonga Lauraceae Ocotea sinuata Ocotea sinuata Lauraceae Photo: CC BY, Alexis López Hernández Ocotea tessmannii Lauraceae

Names & registers

Also known as Borbonia foetens; Oreodaphne foetens; Keiria lutea; Laurus foetens; Laurus till and 4 more. (WCVP, RBG Kew)

IPNIPOWOWikidataWFOWikipedia

The record

Family
Lauraceae
Described by
(Aiton) Baill.
Native to
Canary Is., Madeira
Wild records
449 in range · 229 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
Kew's names (WCVP) kew.names answeredas of 2026-06-04Kew's entry Ocotea foetens (Aiton) Baill. (plant_name_id 2385993), read from Kew's names file
GBIF species record gbif.species not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21this species has no GBIF key of its own; its records are read under GBIF's keys for the names Kew's file holds as this plant, never by a name matched; GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 928 records of GBIF's key 4175655, Mespilodaphne foetens (Aiton) Meisn. (Kew's file holds it as Mespilodaphne foetens (Aiton) Meisn. (synonym under Ocotea foetens (Aiton) Baill.)): the GBIF download; 37 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (33 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 2 at a herbarium, 2 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 32.50_-16.875, lapse-corrected +234 m at 6.5 °C/km; read, and set aside: NASA POWER's cell is mostly sea (12% land), so no cold floor is shown
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22found by Kew's IPNI identifier 467308-1, POWO 467308-1
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 32 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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