"Lol" wrote in message
...
On with my garden inventory - after close inspection I find that I have a
Laurel tree - a whopper. Google tells me that it is a great source of Bay
leaves (which sounds a bit silly - Laurel trees have bay leaves - but I
concluded that Bay was probably a Laurel subspecies.

There are 3 'suspects' which are frequently called Laurel.

Bay *is* a Laurel - Laurus nobilis, slightly crinkled edges to the leaf
(though less obviously so if grown in shade) If you crush the leaves it
smells like................Bay
Thicker stiffer more glossy leaf than the next suspect.

Portugese Laurel belongs to the cherry family - Proper name is Prunus
lusitanica. It has a thinner duller leaf than bay, reddish twigs and at this
time of the year will probably have little red 'cherries' on it.

Common Laurel or 'Cherry Laurel' and its variants like the narrow leaved low
growing variety 'Otto Luyken' often seen in supermarket carparks is *not* a
Laurel but again is a Prunus - Prunus laurocerasus. Much bigger thicker
brighter green leaves than the other 2 and if you crush them they smell of
almonds. As a kid I went through a bug collecting phase and I used crushed
laurel leaves in the killing bottle when collecting specimens.

Look at
http://www.evergreenhedging.co.uk/laurel.htm

for good illustrations of P. lusitanica and P. laurocerasus.
google should find you a picture of bay.

--
Rod

My real address is rodtheweedygardeneratmyweedyisp
Just remove the weedy bits
and transplant the appropriate symbol at.