Laurus nobilis
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
Bay tree, laurel
Family
Lauraceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
LAUNOB
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial. Persistent cultivation relic, can invade intact bush, waste land and scrub.
Detailed description
Large dioecious shrub or small tree to about 7 m. Usually multi-stemmed with smooth trunks, stems and leaves hairless. The leaves are aromatic (especially when crushed) petiole up to 13 mm long often purplish. Lamina to about 13 x 4.5 cm, narrow elliptic with a slightly wavy margin. Male flowers are yellow while female flowers are white and are on separate plants. Fruits are black berries.
Similar taxa
Has been confused with L. azorica. L. nobilis is reported to have shorter petioles and is less hairy, but there may be considerable overlap.
Flowering
September, October, November
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Life cycle
Reproduces by seed and suckers. Many of the trees in cultivation are male, so spread only by suckers. Where females are present many seeds are produced. Dispersed by birds and people.
Year naturalised
1983
Origin
Mediterranean
Reason for introduction
Ornamental, culinary
Tolerances
Very shade tolerant.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.