Stout, 1927). In these two species the mature flowers produce nectar and open twice, one day 
exposing the receptive stigmas first, and the anthers shedding pollen the next day. This system 
reinforces xenogamy, as shown in the crossing experiments performed by Kubitzki & Kurz 
(1984), where only xenogamous crosses yield mature fruits. There are no field observations 
about pollinators of Cinnamomum, but pollination might be made by the small bees belonging to 
the Meliponinae, as is the case in several neotropical genera of the Lauraceae (Kubitzki & Kurz, 
1984). 
Dispersal. 
The fat-rich fruits of the Lauraceae are dispersed mainly by birds (Snow, 1981); the 
whole fruit is swallowed and the seed regurgitated later. Field observations have shown that 
some species of Cinnamomum are important in the diet of several species in the Ramphastidae, 
Trogonidae, Cotingidae, and Muscicapidae (Wheelwright et al., 1984). Production of fruit, 
however, is not necessarily constant throughout the years; not even at the population level 
(Wheelwright, 1986), at least in the case of the few species of Cinnamomum studied in the 
Neotropics. 
Fossil record. 
Fossil flowers belonging to the family Lauraceae are known from early Cretaceous times, 
about 95 million years ago (Drinnan et al., 1990; Herendeen et al., 1994). Fossil leaf remains 
related to Cinnamomum, on the other hand, have been recognized from the Paleocene through the 
Oligocene (Taylor, 1988, and references there). No fossil flowers with the particular morphology 
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