The Dawes Arboretum

Common name: cherry-laurel, laurel cherry, English-laurel

Family: Rosaceae (rose family)

Synonym: Cerasus laurocerasus, Laurocerasus officinalis, Prunus grandifolia

Distribution: s.e. Europe, Caucasus and w. Asia

IUCN Red list: Least concern

Hardiness: USDA Zone 6

Life form: Evergreen shrub

Comments: A dense, evergreen shrub with large, lustrous, dark green leaves. This plant gets 10' tall or more in its native habitat; in central Ohio it probably won't get more than a few feet high and wide. Flowers are small, white, produced in 3-5" racemes in early May. Flowers are very fragrant! The fruit is a purple-black drupe, not ornamentally effective. It is suitable used in the shrub border or as a foundation plant.