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Prunus lusitanica
Also called Portuguese Laurel, Portuguese Laurel Cherry
Portugal laurel is an evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy dark green leaves, widely planted as a hedge or screen. It grows well in sun or part shade with moist but well-drained soil and handles moderate drought once established.
Prunus lusitanica, the Portuguese laurel cherry or Portugal laurel, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae, native to the Iberian Peninsula, Morocco, the Macaronesian archipelagos, and the French Basque Country.
The split between the subspecies (subsp. azorica, hixa, and lusitanica) is dated around the Pliocene.
Prunus lusitanica is grown as an ornamental shrub and is widely planted as a hedge and for screening in gardens and parks. It is introduced and locally naturalised in the temperate zone in northern France, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Western Canada- including the southern BC Mainland and Vancouver Island From Victoria Up Island through the Cowichan, Nanaimo and Parksville as well as the western United States in California, Oregon and Washington State.
Similar to its relative Prunus laurocerasus, P. lusitanica has been recognized by some botanists and land managers in both western Washington and Oregon as invasive. It is thought to have spread from cultivated areas into natural areas by birds who consume the fruit and then defecate the seeds away from the source plant.
The leaves of Prunus lusitanica contain hydrogen cyanide and will release this into the environment if burnt or if crushed. The fruit is somewhat edible if fully ripe, but if it is bitter then it has too much hydrogen cyanide and should not be eaten.
It occurs in the western Mediterranean Basin, France, Spain, and Portugal, and Macaronesia, Azores, Canary Islands and Madeira.
Prunus adenopoda · Red stinkwood · Prunus aitchisonii · Alabama cherry · Prunus alaica · Allegheny plum · American plum · Prunus amplifolia · Almond · Desert peach · Chickasaw plum · Prunus annularis
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Prunus lusitanica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
