Laurocerasus

Laurocerasus 

a genus of evergreen trees or shrubs of the family Rosaceae. The leaves, which are petiolate and generally leathery, are serrate, dentate, or entire. The flowers are small, white, and in slender racemes. The fruit is a juicy drupe, with sweet or bitter flesh. Some species yield edible fruit.

There are approximately 25 known species (according to other data, up to 75 species) of Laurocerasus, growing mainly in warm and temperate regions (primarily in Eurasia and America). The most important species is the common cherry laurel (Laurocerasus officinalis). The tree is 6–10 m tall. The fruits of its orchard varieties are black, large, and edible; the seeds are poisonous and contain hydrocyanic acid. The common cherry laurel has been cultivated since ancient times in numerous forms in gardens and parks throughout the world. In the USSR it is widely cultivated in the Caucasus, the southern Ukrainian SSR, Transcaucasia, and Middle Asia as a medicinal and ornamental plant, as well as for its fruit. The fruits are used as food in fresh or dried form. Cherry-laurel water, an analgesic, is obtained from the fresh leaves. Plants of the genus Laurocerasus are propagated by seeds, cuttings, layers, and grafting.