Prunus lusitanica
Common name:
Portuguese Cherry Laurel .
Portuguese Laurel
Pronunciation:
PROO-nus lu-si-TAN-i-ka
Family:
Rosaceae
Genus:
Type:
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon:
No
- Evergreen broadleaf shrub, 10-20 ft (3-6 m), or 50 ft (15 m) tree, dense branching, young branches reddish. Leaves alternate, simple, 12 cm long × 5 cm wide, glossy dark green, toothed, margin often undulating; petiole 1.5-2.5 cm long, frequently reddish. Flowers white, fragrant 8-12 mm diam., in showy 15-25 cm clusters (racemes). Ripe fruit dark purple-black, 8 mm long, ovoid.
- Sun to part shade. Accepts heat, sun and wind better than P. laurocerasus, needs little water once established Makes a dense hedge.
- Hardy to USDA Zone 6 (Hardier than P. laurocerasus). Native of Spain and Portugal
- lusitanica: of Portugal (Lusitania was an ancient Iberian Roman province which included the area of modern Portugal and a portion of western Spain.)
- Corvallis: grown as "street trees" on east side of 29th St. north of Harrison Ave.
- Oregon State Univ. campus: on the north side of Jefferson Ave. east of 15th St., near the east entrance to the parking lot