Bay Laurel

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{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Bay Laurel | image = Laurus-nobilis-flowers.JPG | image_width = 240px | image_caption = Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) flowers and leaves | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Magnoliophyta | classis = Magnoliopsida | ordo = Laurales | familia = Lauraceae | genus = Laurus | species = L. nobilis | binomial = Laurus nobilis | binomial_authority = L. }}

The Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis, Lauraceae), also known as True Laurel, Sweet Bay, Grecian Laurel, Laurel, or Bay Tree, is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub reaching 10–18 m tall, native to the Mediterranean region.

The leaves are 6–12 cm long and 2–4 cm broad, with a characteristic finely serrated and wrinkled margin. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants; each flower is pale yellow-green, about 1 cm diameter, borne in pairs together beside a leaf. The fruit is a small black berry about 1 cm long, containing a single seed.

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Uses and symbolism

Bay Laurel is the source of the bay leaves which are used for their flavour in cooking. It was also the source of the laurel wreath of ancient Greece, and therefore the expression of "resting on one's laurels". A wreath of bay laurels was given as the prize at the Pythian Games. It is also the source of the word baccalaureate (laurel berry) and thus bachelor, and of poet laureate and indeed the qualification used as an equivalent to the English A-Level.

Some evidence from the medical literature supports Bay Laurel having these uses:

Antioxidative: Fitoterapia. 2003 Sep;74(6):613-6.
Analgesic and anti-inflammatory: Phytother Res. 2003 Aug;17(7):733-6.
Anticonvulsant (antiepileptic): Phytomedicine. 2002 Apr;9(3):212-6.

It is also widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in regions with mediterranean or oceanic climates, and as an indoor plant in colder regions.

Bay Laurel grown in a kitchen for bay leaves

19th century illustration

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External links

MeSH: Laurus - Laurus nobilis (Bay Laurel)
MeSH: Umbellularia - Umbellularia californica (California Bay Laurel)
MeSH: 3-oxo-eudesma-1,4(15),11(13)triene-12,6alpha-olide [Substance Name]
MeSH: anhydroperoxycostunolide [Substance Name]
MeSH: magnolialide [Substance Name]
PubMed search: "Laurus"[MAJR]
PubMed search: "anhydroperoxycostunolide" OR "magnolialide" OR "3-oxo-eudesma-1,4(15),11(13)triene-12,6alpha-olide"