Identifying Characteristics
| Size/Form: | Carolina laurelcherry is a small to medium-sized, evergreen tree that grows from 30' to 35' tall. |
| Leaves: | The leaves are simple, alternate, oval-elliptical, about 3" to 4" long, and leathery. Margins are either entire, or slightly spined. The leaves are smooth, glossy green above and below and have a distinct cherry-like odor, when bruised. Many of the leaves have two, reddish glands along the sides of the lower mid-vein, on the underside of the leaf. |
| Fruit: | The fruit is a dark, oval drupe that is about 3/8" in diameter. Some fruits may persist on the tree into the next season. |
| Bark: | The bark is a shiny, smooth, and grayish-brown. As the trees mature, the bark becomes roughened with fissures and squarish plates. |
| Habitat: | Carolina laurelcherry grows in rich, well-drained soils of hammocks, woodlands, slopes, and bluffs and are often seen among other hardwoods. |