Cherry Laurels

What are they?

The plants in this group are not true laurels and are not related to them. The five-petalled flowers and fleshy fruits are a good indicator that these plants are in the rose family (Rosaceae), along with apples, pears, plums and other similar species. However, these plants differ distinctly by being evergreen or having an evergreen appearance, with their highly glossy, slightly leathery leaves.

Where are they found?

These are non-native species, so all are only likely to be found as strays from cultivation or where deliberately planted. Cherry Laurels are commonly planted in cemeteries, churchyards and parks and are often used to provide cover on shooting estates.

Identification

The species covered are relatively easy to tell apart, based on details of their leaves, flowers and fruits.

Cherry Laurel Prunus laurocerasus

Native from South-east Europe to the Caucasus and Iran. Introduced as a garden ornamental and abundantly planted for hedging and screening. Also commonly used as pheasant cover on shooting estates and planted into woods and copses. Flowers April to June. Can eventually become a huge, multistemmed shrub or tree to 10m in height, but often cut low as a hedge. Flowers in upright spikes on uncut plants, followed by trusses of fruits that ripen from red to black. Leaves up to 25cm in length, thick and leathery and with a very strong smell of almonds if crushed (actually Hydrogen cyanide!). Smaller-leaved and lower growing forms are commonly used in amenity plantings, such as the spreading 'Zabeliana' and the stiffly upright 'Otto Luyken'.


Flowers	Flowers	Flowers	Leaf

Fruits	Cultivar 'Zabeliana'	Cultivar 'Otto Luyken'

Portugal Laurel Prunus lusitanica

Introduced from South-west Europe as an amenity plant and fairly widely planted for hedging and screens, though less so than Cherry Laurel. Flowers May-June. A tall, multistemmed species that can attain tree size and may reach 15 metres or more in height. Leaves 7-14cm in length with slightly undulate margins; flowers similar to those of Cherry Laurel, but the trusses are typically somewhat pendulous rather than upright when fully mature.