The Laurels 



scent. The oval, dark-purple fruit with its solitary 

 stone is very like a small cherry hence the common 

 name of the plant, Cherry Laurel and its specific 

 name Laurocerasus. But of course the fruits are 

 arranged in grape-like clusters on the thick central 

 stalk, and do not droop on long single stems as in 

 the cherry. 



The Cherry Laurel was brought into England in 

 1629, and in 1636 Johnson's Gerard tells us, " It is 

 now got into many of our choice English gardens, 

 where it is well respected for the beauty of the leaves 

 and their lasting or continuall greennesse." The same 

 authority also tells us that " it was first sent to Clusius 

 from Constantinople, and that by the name of 

 Trapazuntina dactylus the Date of Trapezon : but 

 it hath no affinitie with the Date/' (Clusius was 

 a " learned, diligent and laborious Herbarist," who 

 was born at Arras in 1526 and died at Leyden 

 1609. He travelled widely in Spain and Austria, and 

 wrote largely about plants on his own account, and 

 translated also the works of others.) This plant is a 

 native of the nearer East Thessaly, Bithynia, the 

 Caucasus, Persia and the Crimea. 



A large number of varieties of this shrub have been 

 evolved by nurserymen, the shape of the leaf being 

 their usual distinguishing feature ; for instance, in the 



particularly hardy variety, caucasia, the leaves are 



81 



