Laurocerasus officinalis
Laurocerasus officinalis
Karayemiş
Shrub or small tree up to 6 m; annual shoots glabrous. Leaves oblong-elliptic to oblong-obovate, up to 20 x 8 cm, remotely dentate or entire, dark green and lustrous above, paler beneath, glabrous; petioles up to 15 mm, channelled. Racemes compact, usually shorter than the leaves, lacking leaves but with some small bracts. Flowers white, pedicels up to 8 mm; hypanthium campanulate with inflexed lobes; petals c. 4 mm. Drupes ovoid, c. 8 mm diam. , dark purple or black; stones smooth, keeled. Fl. 4-6. Undergrowth in forests, mostly with Fagus and Rhododendron, 20-2000 m.
Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, W. Caucasia, N. Iran.
