Bay laurel

Bay Laurel
Missing image
Laurus-nobilis-flowers.JPG



Laurus nobilis flowers and leaves
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Magnoliophyta
Class:Magnoliopsida
Order:Laurales
Family:Lauraceae
Genus:Laurus
Species:L. nobilis

Template:Taxobox section binomial botany

The Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis, Lauraceae), also known as True Laurel, Sweet Bay, Grecian Laurel, or just Laurel, is an evergreen tree or large shrub reaching 10-18 m tall, native to the Mediterranean region. The leaves are 6-12 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, with a characteristic serrated and wrinkled margin.

Bay Laurel is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants; each flower is pale yellow-green, about 1 cm diameter, borne in pairs together beside a leaf. The fruit is a small black berry about 1 cm long, containing a single seed.

Uses and symbolism

Missing image
20050515-007-laurus-nobilis.jpg
Laurel grown in a kitchen for bay leaves

Bay Laurel is the source of the spice Bay leaves. It was also the source of the Laurel wreath of ancient Greece, and therefore the expression of "resting on one's laurels". A wreath of bay laurels was given as the prize at the Pythian Games. It is also the source of the word baccalaureate (laurel berry) and thus bachelor, and of poet laureate.da:Laurbær_(Laurus_nobilis) de:Echter Lorbeer fr:Laurier sauce fi:Laakeripuu

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