Laurus nobilis

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Bay Laurel
)
"Laurels" redirects here. For other uses, see Laurels (disambiguation).

Laurus nobilis
Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) leaves and branches

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Laurus
Species:
L. nobilis
Binomial name
Laurus nobilis

Laurus nobilis

Greco-Roman
culture.

Worldwide, many other kinds of plants in diverse families are also called "bay" or "laurel", generally due to similarity of foliage or aroma to Laurus nobilis.

Description

A laurel shrub
Laurus nobilis in pot
Laurus nobilis in bloom

The laurel is an evergreen shrub or small tree, variable in size and sometimes reaching 7–18 m (23–59 ft) tall.[4] The genus Laurus includes three accepted species,[6] whose diagnostic key characters often overlap.[7]

The bay laurel is

entire (untoothed) margin. On some leaves the margin undulates.[8] The fruit is a small, shiny black drupe-like berry[9][10] about 1 cm (3⁄8 in) long[8] that contains one seed.[11][4]

Ecology

Further information: Laurel forest

Laurus nobilis is a widespread relict of the laurel forests that originally covered much of the Mediterranean Basin when the climate of the region was more humid. With the drying of the Mediterranean during the Pliocene era, the laurel forests gradually retreated, and were replaced by the more drought-tolerant sclerophyll plant communities familiar today. Most of the last remaining laurel forests around the Mediterranean are believed to have disappeared approximately ten thousand years ago, although some remnants still persist in the mountains of southern Turkey, northern Syria, southern Spain, north-central Portugal, northern Morocco, the Canary Islands and in Madeira.

Human uses

Food

The plant is the source of several popular

herbs and one spice used in a wide variety of recipes, particularly among Mediterranean cuisines.[8] Most commonly, the aromatic leaves are added whole to Italian pasta sauces. They are typically removed from dishes before serving, unless used as a simple garnish.[12] Whole bay leaves have a long shelf life of about one year, under normal temperature and humidity.[12]
Whole bay leaves are used almost exclusively as flavor agents during the food preparation stage.

Ground bay leaves, however, can be ingested safely and are often used in

smoke flavoring.[12]

Ornamental

Laurus nobilis is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in regions with Mediterranean or oceanic climates, and as a house plant or greenhouse plant in colder regions. It is used in topiary to create single erect stems with ball-shaped, box-shaped or twisted crowns; also for low hedges. However it is slow-growing and may take several years to reach the desired height.[13] Together with a gold form, L. nobilis 'Aurea' [14] and a willow-leaved form L. nobilis f. angustifolia,[15] it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[16]

One of the most important pests affecting ornamental laurels is caused by the jumping plant louse Trioza alacris, which induces the curling and thickening of the edge of the leaves for the development of the insect's nymphs, eventually creating a necrosed gall.[17] The species is also affected by the scale insect Coccus hesperidum.[17]

Alternative medicine

Laurus nobilis essential oil in clear glass vial

In

stinging nettle is a poultice soaked in boiled bay leaves.[20] The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder listed a variety of conditions which laurel oil was supposed to treat: paralysis, spasms, sciatica, bruises, headaches, catarrhs, ear infections, and rheumatism.[21]

Symbolism

Greece

In Greek, the plant is called δάφνη : dáphnē, after the mythic mountain nymph of the same name. In the myth of Apollo and Daphne, the god Apollo fell in love with Daphne, a priestess of Gaia (Mother Earth), and when he tried to seduce her she pleaded for help to Gaia, who transported her to Crete. In Daphne's place Gaia left a laurel tree, from which Apollo fashioned wreaths to console himself.[22]

Other versions of the myth, including that of the Roman poet Ovid, state that Daphne was transformed directly into a laurel tree.[23]

Bay laurel was used to fashion the laurel wreath of ancient Greece, a symbol of highest status. A wreath of bay laurels was given as the prize at the Pythian Games because the games were in honor of Apollo, and the laurel was one of his symbols. According to the poet Lucian, the priestess of Apollo known as the Pythia reputedly chewed laurel leaves from a sacred tree growing inside the temple to induce the enthusiasmos (trance) from which she uttered the oracular prophecies for which she was famous.[24] Some accounts starting in the fourth century BC describe her as shaking a laurel branch while delivering her prophecies. Those who received promising omens from the Pythia were crowned with laurel wreaths as a symbol of Apollo's favor.[25]

Rome

Petrarch, laurated poet, father of humanism

The symbolism carried over to

Roman culture, which held the laurel as a symbol of victory.[26] It was also associated with immortality,[27] with ritual purification, prosperity and health.[28][29] It is also the source of the words baccalaureate and poet laureate
, as well as the expressions "assume the laurel" and "resting on one's laurels".

Pliny the Elder stated that the laurel was not permitted for "profane" uses – lighting it on fire at altars "for the propitiation of divinities" was strictly forbidden, because "it is very evident that the laurel protests against such usage by crackling as it does in the fire, thus, in a manner, giving expression to its abhorrence of such treatment".[30]

Laurel was closely associated with the Roman Emperors, beginning with

demon", and was therefore "immune" from outer threats like fire or lightning.[32]

In modern Italy, laurel wreaths are worn as a crown by graduating school students.[34]

East Asia

An early Chinese

imperial examinations,[35][36][37] which were held around the time of the lunar festival. The similar association in Europe of laurels with victory and success led to its translation into Chinese as the 月桂
or "Moon gui".

Finland

The laurel leaves in the right side of the coat of arms of Kaskinen

The laurel leaves in the coat of arms of

town rights and the status of staple town for the village at the time.[38][39]

Chemical constituents

The most abundant component found in laurel

methyleugenol, and other α- and β-pinenes, phellandrene, linalool, geraniol, and terpineol.[40] It contains lauric acid also.[citation needed
]

Both essential and fatty oils are present in the fruit. The fruit is pressed and water-extracted to obtain these products. The fruit contains up to 30% fatty oils and about 1% essential oils (terpenes, sesquiterpenes, alcohols, and ketones). This laurel oil is the characteristic ingredient of Aleppo soap. The chemical compound lauroside B has been isolated from Laurus nobilis.[41]

See also

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T203351A119996864.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Laurus". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.
  3. ^ "Botanary: nobilis". Dave's Garden. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9780521707725
    .
  5. ^ Brown, R.W. (1956). Composition of scientific words: A manual of methods and a lexicon of materials for the practice of logotechnics. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  6. ^ "Laurus L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  7. ^ Mabberley, The Plant-Book: A Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants, Cambridge University Press, 19 Jun 1997
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-954946-7
    . Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  9. ^ "Laurus nobilis - Plant Finder". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  10. ^ Flora Europaea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1964. pp. Volume 1 page 246.
  11. S2CID 28898196
    .
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-1-59474-082-4
    . Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  13. ISBN 9781405332965
    .
  14. ^ "Laurus nobilis 'Aurea'". RHS. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  15. ^ "RHS Plantfinder – Laurus nobilis f. angustifolia". Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Laurus nobilis". RHS. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-84-617-3020-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )
  18. PMID 16597335
    ..
  19. ^ Encyclopedia of Herbs. "Bay Laurel: Laurus nobilis". AllNatural.net. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  20. ISBN 978-1-58761-354-8
    . Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  21. ^ Pliny the Elder. Natural History. p. XXIII.43.
  22. ^ Graves, Robert (1955). The Greek Myths: Part 1. Penguin Books. pp. 21.K–21.L.
  23. ^ "The Metamorphoses". Translated by Kline, A. S. 2000. Archived from the original on April 19, 2005. Retrieved 2017-11-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  24. ^ Scott, Michael (2014). Delphi. Princeton University Press. p. 20.
  25. ^ Swahn, J. O. (1991). The Lore of Spices. Random House. p. 40.
  26. OCLC 482791069
    .
  27. ^ Pliny the Elder. Natural History Book XV.39.
  28. ^ a b Giesecke, Annette (2014). The Mythology of Plants: Botanical Lore from Ancient Greece and Rome. J. Paul Getty Museum. pp. 35–36.
  29. ^ a b Pliny the Elder. Natural History. Book XV, 35.
  30. ^ Pliny the Elder. Natural History. Book XV.135.
  31. ^ a b Suetonius. Galba. Book 7, 1.
  32. ^
    S2CID 162098134
    .
  33. ^ Suetonius. Tiberius, 69.
  34. ^ Gabriella Massara, https://giftsitter.com/it/blog/laurea-perche-si-incorona-il-laureato-con-lalloro "Corona d’alloro fai da te", retrieved April 2018
  35. ^ Brendon, Juliet et al. The Moon Year: A Record of Chinese Customs and Festivals, p. 410. Kelly & Walsh, 1927. Reprinted Routledge (Abingdon), 2011. Accessed 13 November 2013.
  36. ^ Zdic (2013). "蟾宫折桂". Accessed 13 November 2013. (in Chinese)
  37. ^ 杜近芳 [Du Jinfang] (2003). 《红楼梦汉英习语词典》 ["A Dictionary of Chinese Idioms in the Dream of the Red Chamber"]. Accessed 13 November 2013. (in English and Chinese)
  38. ISBN 951-773-085-3
    .
  39. ^ Boyko, Dm. A. (2013). Геральдика Великого Княжества Финляндского [Heraldry of the Grand Duchy of Finland]. Zaporizhzhia. (in Russian)
  40. PMID 15030218
    .
  41. PMID 21188975
    .

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