Our tree of the week is an evergreen specimen. The laurel cherry (
Prunus caroliniana) is a small tree native to Louisiana and found scattered elsewhere throughout the Deep South. As we are nearing the end of January, the laurel cherry holds onto its dark green foliage.
There is a lone laurel cherry in the arboretum collection. It was collected locally from the Broadmoor neighborhood of Shreveport. It was planted in October 1990, making it nearly 30 years old. During its early years, the tree grew with a significant crook in its trunk, resulting in lopsided growth. Luckily, a vertical shoot emerged from the crooked trunk and the lopsided growth was later pruned away. Today we have a fairly erect laurel cherry tree with an interesting trunk.
The photos below were taken on a partly cloudy, mild January day.
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| This laurel cherry is located on a gradual clay slope between Hamilton Hall (pictured) and the Student Union Building. A mature Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii) partially shades the area. |
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| Another view reveals a slight bend in the trunk. |
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| Laurel cherry trees have simple, elliptic, alternate leaves. |
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| The leaf margins are slightly serrated on some of the leaves. |
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| Laurel cherry trees have dark green leaves, even in the middle of winter. This particular leaf has smooth, wavy margins. It measures to just over 3 inches in length. |
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| Underneath, the smooth leaf is light green. This particular leaf has serrated margins and measures 2.5 inches long. The red petiole is also noticeable in this picture. |
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| Life hasn't been all peaches and cream for this laurel cherry. The remnants of the original, crooked trunk can be seen here. |
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| This is the smooth grey bark from the younger portion of the trunk. |
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| Here we have the old, rough and gnarled portion of the trunk. |
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| The dark grey trunk shows a lot of 'character', but remains small, despite being nearly 30 years old. |
You can see older pictures of this laurel cherry
here.
For more information about this native tree consult the following:
United States Department of Agriculture
Louisiana Plant Identification and Interactive Virtual Tours (LSU AgCenter)
Texas A&M University -- Native Plants Database
University of Florida IFAS Extension
