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The alternate,
leathery leaves are dark green and very glossy above, paler below
with a few scattered teeth along the margin. They are 5-18 cm long
on a short stalk up to 10 mm long. When crushed the
leaves smell of almonds (unlike Spurge-laurel
which do not smell of almonds).
ID
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Cherry
Laurel is an evergreen shrub,
branching from the base, up to 6 m high. It was widely introduced
as an ornamental hedge plant and suited to almost all kinds of soil.
Long spikes
of dull white 5-petalled flowers, 8 mm across, arise from leaf axils
in April.
Round
berries develop, red at first, but
shiny black when ripe in autumn.
Facts
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The leaves
contain prussic acid or cyanide and were formerly crushed and
used in jars by entomologists,
to kill butterflies and other insects.
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It is often
planted as game cover in woodlands in winter, as the leaves keep
the ground beneath warm and dry.
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It is a native
of South East Europe, introduced into Britain in 1576.
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