Cryptocarya obovata is a large laurel growing on basaltic and fertile alluvial soils in eastern Australian rainforests. It is found from Wyong (33° S) in New South Wales to Gympie (27° S) in the state of Queensland. Extinct in the Illawarra region (34° S), seen in the Illawarra in 1818 by Allan Cunningham. Published in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen, 402 (1810)