Cherry laurel

Family Rosaceae. Genus of evergreen trees or shrubs of the rose family.

Leaves petiolate, mostly leathery, serrate, toothed or entire. Flowers small, white, in narrow racemes.

Fruit - a fleshy drupe, the flesh sweet or bitter, edible in some species.

About 25 species are known (according to other sources, up to 75) of cherry laurel, growing mainly in warm and temperate regions, most in Eurasia and America.

Of greatest importance is the medicinal cherry laurel (L. officinalis). A tree 6–10 m high. Fruits of garden forms are black, large, edible; seeds are poisonous, they contain hydrocyanic acid. This species has long been cultivated in many forms in gardens and parks worldwide. It is grown as a medicinal, ornamental and fruit-bearing plant in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia.

Fruits are used fresh and dried. From fresh leaves cherry laurel water is obtained (a pain-relieving agent).

Overwinters well when covered with spruce boughs. Prefers partial shade.

Propagated by seeds, cuttings, and layering. Without protection all young shoots are killed by frost.