Laurus nobilis

 ( Lauraceae ) 

The bay laurel is dioecy (unisexual), with male and female on separate plants. Each flower is pale yellow-green, about diameter, and they are borne in pairs beside a leaf. The leaves are glabrous, long and broad, with an entire leaf (untoothed) margin. On some leaves the margin undulates. The fruit is a small, shiny black drupe-like berry about long that contains one seed.

One of the most important pests affecting ornamental laurels is caused by the Triozidae Trioza alacris, which induces the curling and thickening of the edge of the leaves for the development of the insect's nymphs, eventually creating a necrosed gall.

Other versions of the myth, including that of the Roman poet Ovid, state that Daphne was transformed directly into a laurel tree.

Bay laurel was used to fashion the laurel wreath of ancient Greece, a symbol of highest status. A wreath of bay laurels was given as the prize at the Pythian Games because the games were in honor of Apollo, and the laurel was one of his symbols. According to the poet Lucian, the priestess of Apollo known as the Pythia reputedly chewed laurel leaves from a sacred tree growing inside the temple to induce the enthusiasmos (trance) from which she uttered the oracular prophecies for which she was famous. Some accounts starting in the fourth century BC describe her as shaking a Laurel wreath while delivering her prophecies. Those who received promising omens from the Pythia were crowned with laurel wreaths as a symbol of Apollo's favor.

Pliny the Elder stated that the laurel was not permitted for "profane" uses – lighting it on fire at altars "for the propitiation of divinities" was strictly forbidden, because "it is very evident that the laurel protests against such usage by crackling as it does in the fire, thus, in a manner, giving expression to its abhorrence of such treatment".

Laurel was closely associated with the Roman Emperors, beginning with Augustus. Two Laurel trees flanked the entrance to Augustus' house on the Palatine Hill in Rome, which itself was connected to the Temple of Apollo Palatinus, which Augustus had built. Thus, the laurels had the dual purpose of advertising Augustus' victory in the Civil Wars and his close association with Apollo. Suetonius relates the story of Augustus' wife, and Rome's first Empress, Livia, who planted a sprig of laurel on the grounds of her villa at Prima Porta after an eagle dropped a hen with the sprig clutched in its beak onto her lap. The sprig grew into a full-size tree which fostered an entire grove of laurel trees, which were in turn added to by subsequent Emperors when they celebrated a Roman triumph. The emperors in the Julio-Claudian dynasty all sourced their from the original tree planted by Livia. It was taken as an omen of the impending end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty that in the reign of Nero the entire grove died, shortly before he was assassinated. Rome's second Emperor Tiberius wore wreaths of laurel whenever there was stormy weather because it was widely believed that Laurel trees were immune to lightning strikes, affording protection to those who brandished it. One reason for this belief is because laurel crackles loudly when on fire. It led ancient Romans to believe the plant was inhabited by a "heavenly fire demon", and was therefore "immune" from outer threats like fire or lightning.

In modern Italy, laurel wreaths are worn as a crown by graduating school students.

Both essential and fatty oils are present in the fruit. The fruit is pressed and water-extracted to obtain these products. The fruit contains up to 30% fatty oils and about 1% essential oils (terpenes, sesquiterpenes, alcohols, and ). This laurel oil is the characteristic ingredient of Aleppo soap. The chemical compound lauroside B has been isolated from Laurus nobilis.

• Laurel wreath
• Cherry laurel
• Umbellularia
• Kalmia latifolia
• Aucuba japonica
• Persea borbonia

• MeSH: Laurus – Laurus nobilis (Bay Laurel)
• PubMed search: "Laurus"MAJR
• Laurus nobilis – Israel Wildflowers and native plants