Leaf
Sten Porse, Wikimedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Portugal laurel
Prunus lusitanica L.
Also known as: Portuguese laurel
Family: Rosaceae
4 to 6 m tall (often kept lower as a hedge)
Clipped hedges and specimen plants, free-draining soil; used as a hardier alternative to common cherry laurel
Flowering: May – June
Full sun
Part shade
Hardy to about -15°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
Its bright red-tinged petioles and young shoots contrast with the dark green foliage — the simplest feature for telling it apart from common cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), which it closely resembles.
🍃 Leaves
Evergreen, leathery, ovate, glossy dark green, borne on red-tinged petioles and young twigs
🌸 Flowers
White, in long, upright, fragrant racemes
🍎 Fruits
Small ovoid drupes, red then purplish black when ripe
🪵 Bark
Grey, dotted with lenticels
🗺️ Distribution
Native to Portugal, Spain and the Atlantic islands; widely planted in Europe
🐝 Value for pollinators
Nectar-rich flowers visited by bees
✂️ Horticultural uses
Dense hedges, tolerates pruning well, hardier and more disease-resistant than common cherry laurel
⚠️ Possible toxicity
Leaves and stones contain cyanogenic glycosides, toxic if ingested
🌿 Other Rosaceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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