Laurus L.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Laurus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/laurus/). Accessed 2026-06-06.

Family

Lauraceae

Species in genus

Glossary

axillary: Situated in an axil.
berry: Fleshy indehiscent fruit with seed(s) immersed in pulp.
entire: With an unbroken margin.
glabrous: Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.

References

POWO (2025). Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Laurus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/laurus/). Accessed 2026-06-06.

Expressing its natural growth-form – Laurus nobilis in the garden of Villa Bottini, Lucca, Italy (September 2023). Image John Grimshaw.

Three species (POWO !0/9/2025) of evergreen trees or shrubs with entire, glabrous leaves, aromatic when crushed. Flowers with the sexes on different plants and borne in small, axillary, almost stalkless clusters; sepals four; stamens usually twelve; anthers opening by valves. Fruit a black berry. The name is an old Latin one.

Laurus azorica at Logan Botanic Garden, SW Scotland (20010671*A, wild-collected in the Azores). 29 May 2025. Image Tom Christian.

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