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| Our senior laurel cherry (Prunus caroliniana) is pictured center. This same tree was featured two years ago at this time of the year. You can read about it here. At that time, it was the sole laurel cherry in the collection. Over the past two years, we added seven more. All new additions are volunteers found growing in the ground of the arboretum. It is quite probable that these volunteers were born from the fruits of the senior individual. This week, we'll look at pictures of those fruits. |
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| Looking up, we can see more than a few of the black fruits mixed in with the evergreen leaves. |
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| Up close, the fruits are dark blue, almost black. |
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| Developing flowers can also be found this week. |
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| The round (poisonous!) fruits are a ½ inch in diameter. |
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| These fruits are drupes: each fruit is composed of a leathery skin, a juicy inner layer, and one large, tough seed. If you have a notion to grow your own laurel cherry, pick a few and take them home for a germination project. But keep in mind that the literature roundly agrees that these fruits are poisonous! |
