232 CHERRY LAUREL, ETC. 



* Leaves more or less lanceolate. 



t Leaves coriaceous, polished above, evergreen, 

 glandular serrate ; venation pinnate, reticu- 

 late and looped, obscure. 



Shoots and petioles green, leaves somewhat 

 oblanceolate ; secondaries slightly promi- 

 nent beneath, xoith circular glands at the 

 base beneath on each side of the midrib. 



Prunus Laurocerasus, L. Cherry Laurel. Shrub, 

 with leaves smelling of bitter almonds when crushed. 

 Leaf 1015 x 3 4 cm., broadly lanceolate or slightly 

 obovate-lanceolate, and bluntly acuminate, persistent, 

 tough, glabrous, dark bright green and polished above, 

 paler matt green below. Margin somewhat reflexed, with 

 distant small serrature. Petiole stout and short, about 

 5 mm. long. Midrib prominent below, giving off about 

 8 10 much finer secondaries on each side, in pinnate 

 order: these curve forward, become very indistinctly looped, 

 and fade away into the obscure reticulation. There are 

 one or two depressed circular glands near the base on each 

 side of the midrib, often purplish in summer, and very 

 obscure in winter. Stipules very evident on young leaves, 

 deciduous, their scars usually discernible. Dying leaves 

 yellow and brown. 



Shoots and petioles reddish to purple, leaves 

 more ovate-lanceolate and smaller and more 

 crowded; also thinner, harder, and darker, 

 the venation less prominent; no glands. 



Prunus Lusitanica, L. Portugal Laurel. This closely- 

 allied species has purple shoots and no glands on 

 the leaves, and the latter are thinner and harder. The 

 leaves are also smaller, darker above, more crowded (the 

 internodes shorter) and pendent, and have closer, more 



