Prunus laurocerasus

The cherry laurel, common laurel or English laurel is in the rose or Rosacaceae and is native to regions bordering the Black Sea in southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe, from Albania and Bulgaria east through Turkey to the Caucasus Mountains and northern Iran.

• It is an evergreen shrub or small to medium-sized tree, growing to 5-15 metres tall, with a trunk up to 60 cm broad.
• Leaves are dark green, leathery, shiny, 10–25 cm long and 4–10 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin. The leaves can have the scent of almonds when crushed.
• Flowers are 1 cm across, with 5 creamy-white petals and numerous yellowish stamens, in erect 7–15 cm racemes of 30–40 flowers, opening in early summer.
• Fruit is a small cherry 1–2 cm broad, turning black when ripe in early autumn.