On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 20:16:53 UTC, "Rachael of Nex, the Wiccan Rat"
opined:

"Stan Goodman" wrote in message
news:uViCr8LlbtmJ-pn2-KCY6FdUPlqOq@poblano...
Off-topic, of course, but connected with flora. Please forgive me.

Does anyone recognize what plant is being used for the wreaths with which
the Olympic medal winners are being crowned? It is certainly not laurel,
which is the traditional source of the branches for this purpose.

Actually, laurel is an edible plant, good in stews and soups, so this is
not
as off-topic as I first thought.

Ummm... as far as I know only a few laurels are edible - bay laurel being
one of them (or the part that we Brits would call Bay leaves is edible,
though I seem to see it used to flavour the dish then to be taken out before
eating), the rest being quite poisonous. So I am told. I certainly have been
told to keep my dawgs from chewing the laurel hedge I have in my fenced off
part of the garden, anyway.

Could anyone confirm or deny ?

I have been told that some laurels are toxic, but the only one I have seen
here is L. Nobilis, which I have never heard accused of toxicity. It's very
well represented in the wild fauna, and makes a good planting.

If you cook a soup or stew with the leaves in it, there would seem to be
little point in removing the leaves when you are done cooking; pretty much
anything soluble has diffused from the leaves into the soup/stew. On the
other hand, the texture of the leaves doesn't invite eating, so there is
also little to be gained by leaving them in.

I get laurel leaves fresh from the trees by my house. In recipes that call
for one or two leaves, I regularly put five; I like the taste. I have been
doing this for at least forty years with no detectable effect.

--
Stan Goodman
Qiryat Tiv'on
Israel

Saddam is gone. Ceterum, censeo Arafat esse delendam.