The alternate, leathery leaves are dark green and very glossy above, paler below with a few scattered teeth along the margin. They are 5-18 cm long on a short stalk up to 10 mm long. When crushed the leaves smell of almonds (unlike Spurge-laurel which do NOT smell of almonds).

Cherry Laurel is an evergreen shrub, branching from the base, up to 6 m high. It was widely introduced as an ornamental hedge plant and suited to almost all kinds of soil.

Long spikes of dull white 5-petalled flowers, 8 mm across, arise from leaf axils in April.

Facts

• The leaves contain prussic acid or cyanide and were formerly crushed and used in jars by entomologists, to kill butterflies and other insects.

• It is often planted as game cover in woodlands in winter, as the leaves keep the ground beneath warm and dry.

• It is a native of South East Europe, introduced into Britain in 1576.