Lauraceae
Laurus

Laurus nobilis L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 369 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Medit. It is a tree and grows primarily in the subtropical biome. It is used as a medicine, has environmental uses and for food.

Descriptions

Distribution
Colombian departments: Bogotá DC.
Conservation
IUCN Red List Assessment (2021): LC.
Ecology
Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: forest and woodland, shrubland, artificial - terrestrial.
Vernacular
Laurel
[UPFC]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/203351/119996864

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular
canelón, laurel, laurel real
[UNAL]

Lauraceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1996

Morphology General Habit
Capable of becoming a much branched evergreen up to 18 m. tall (mostly 7-12) it is usually kept low if used for providing leaves for flavouring; it can, however, be a handsome ornamental tree.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 4-10 cm. long, 1.5-6 cm. wide, obtuse or acute at the apex, cuneate to rounded at the base, pinnately veined, glabrous, entire or faintly undulate, very aromatic.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers unisexual, small, yellowish or yellow-green, in axillary umbel-like inflorescences supported by small involucres.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits black, ovoid-ellipsoid, 1-1.8 cm. long, 0.8-1 cm. wide.
[FTEA]

Uses

Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Materials
Used as material.
Use Medicines
Medical uses.
[UPFC]

Common Names

english
bay laurel
unknown
amala, bay, carghapocho, ghar (Arabic), laurel, sweet bay

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • EBC Common Names

    • Common Names from Kew's Economic Botany Collection https://www.kew.org/science/collections-and-resources/collections/economic-botany-collection

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Living Collection Database

    • Common Names from Kew's Living Collection Database

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0