Several cultivar of laurel are grow as ornamentals in Oregon , particularly variety that like the moist mood in the western part of the country . Several laurel varities maturate wild in the Beaver State , and one introduced invasive metal money threatens the habitats of native plant life .

Native Laurel

California laurel , Umbellularia Californica , has aromatic foliage standardised to its Greek cousin , bay laurel . The leaf of California Stan Laurel can also be used as a seasoning . It is a shrub that can grow into a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ; in a garden it can be pruned to stay from 6 to 8 feet tall . Growing barbaric in mixed evergreen forests , it like more than 30 inches of rain a twelvemonth . It grows by nature in Washington , Clackamas and Marion county to the south and W of the Portland metropolitan area and in Coos , Curry , Douglas , Josephine and Jackson county in southwest Oregon .

Introduced Ornamentals

Portugal Stan Laurel , Prunus lusitanica , is a broadleaf evergreen plant laurel that uprise in Portugal and Spain . It is pop as a single flora or as part of a shorn hedging west of the Cascade Mountains . It has glossy , dark - green foliage and produces 5- to 10 - inch spikes of white flowers and clusters of tiny Marxist to dark purple berries . Birds wish the berries , but humans should n’t eat them . The U.S. National Park Service debate this an encroaching species that should not be allowed outside a garden or 1000 . Cherry laurel , Prunus laurocerasus , also call English laurel , grow well in western Oregon and produces clusters of fragrant clean flowers and purple to black berries . It like well - drained soil . It can tolerate salt spray and shadowiness , and it can be dress into a hedge . Cultivars can grow from 3 to 6 feet grandiloquent .

Beautiful but Poisonous

Mountain laurel , Kalmia latifolia , mature from 7 to 15 foot magniloquent and is cultivate as an ornamental in all parts of Oregon . cultivar of batch laurel produce spectacular flowers that are lily-white , plus sunglasses of pinkish , cherry-red and Burgundy wine . All parts of this plant contain toxic substances andromedotoxin and arbutin . Eating any part of mountain laurel can be fateful .

Introduced Invasive Laurel

Spurge laurel wreath , Daphne laureola , has spiraling evergreen plant leaves and produces bitter - fragrant , dark-green - yellowed flowers in belated winter or other saltation . Birds and lowly mammalian feed its single - seeded berries that grow in cluster . Splurge Arthur Stanley Jefferson Laurel grows from 1½ to 4½ feet high . It was primitively stick in from Asia and was grown commercially as an ornamental . It is now turn over an trespassing , noxious gage that contains toxic chemical compound poisonous to humans ; population have escape ornamental planting and continue to occupy habitat of native plants .

Unusual Laurels

Swamp Laurel Kalmia polifolia is a vicious narcotic plant found in mucky field of western Oregon . The leaves , which are astringent , are said to have been used by Native Americans to treat skin diseases and inflammation . Kalmia angustifolia , also called sheep laurel or lamb - kill , is a small shrub witness in the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon . It is poisonous to grazing animals .

Warning

swampland laurel is toxic . Its purport habit for medicinal purposes have not been establish by clinical trial run and are not okay by the FDA . It should not be used by secular persons to treat any disease or condition .

References

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