Bay laurel
Laurus nobilis
An evergreen shrub or small tree with stiff, leathery, dark green leaves that give off a warm, spicy scent when crushed or torn. Small yellow-green flowers appear in clusters in the leaf axils in spring, and female plants carry single black berries in autumn. The leaves, fresh or dried, are the bay leaf of the kitchen, used to flavour stocks, stews and milk puddings and lifted out before serving.
Native to the Mediterranean and widely planted across Britain and Ireland as hedging, topiary and garden shrubs, particularly in mild coastal and urban areas. It seeds itself from planted stock onto walls, waste ground and woodland edges in southern England, but is not a native wild plant here.
Leaves are used for flavour and taken out before serving: they stay stiff with sharp edges after cooking and can scratch or lodge if swallowed whole. Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), a very common hedging shrub, is sometimes picked in mistake for it — crushed cherry laurel leaves smell of marzipan rather than warm spice, and contain cyanogenic compounds. Handling large quantities can irritate sensitive skin.
Always use more than one reference to confirm a plant. You are responsible for what you choose to forage.
Habit
A dense, often multi-stemmed evergreen shrub or small tree, reaching 10 m or more when unclipped, with smooth grey-green bark. Most UK plants are trimmed as hedging, topiary or pot specimens, so shape alone tells you little — go to the leaves.
Leaf
Firm and leathery, 5–10 cm long, tapering at both ends, dark matt green above and paler beneath, with an untoothed margin that is often slightly wavy. Cherry laurel leaves are larger, brighter and glossier, with fine teeth along the edge.
Scent when crushed
Tear or crush a leaf: it should smell warm and spicy, faintly camphorous. A marzipan or almond smell means you have cherry laurel and should not pick it.
Flowers
Small clusters of yellowish-green flowers sit tight against the twigs in the leaf axils in March to May. Plants are male or female, so many garden specimens never fruit. Cherry laurel instead carries upright spikes of white flowers held well clear of the foliage.
Fruit
Female plants ripen single ovoid black berries about 1 cm long in autumn, sitting on a short stalk in a small cup. The berries are not a culinary part and are not used in the kitchen.
Updated 2026-08-07T21:05:48.149Z · Part of the shared Foragers Log catalogue · Herb