The evergreen shrub that you see before you is a native shrub to our area called the Carolina Laurel Cherry. Given the correct conditions, this shrub can grow to become a small tree of up to 35 feet tall. The leaves of the plant are elliptical and shiny green with extremely variable margins, usually jagged. The leaves have a vanilla-like fragrance when the glands on the lower surface of the leaves are crushed.

It grows best in full sun which is why you see the shrub along the edges of the forest straining to get to the sun. Because there are still parts of our forest on the inside that don’t have a complete canopy cover, you can find the Laurel Cherry throughout the nature preserve. Established plants have a good drought tolerance.

In the early spring, the Laurel Cherry will erupt into bloom with clusters of small white flowers produced in short racemes. The flowers each bear 5 tiny, white petals, plus stamens and a pistil. The fragrant flowers attract heavy numbers of butterflies to the nature preserve, including the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, the Pipevine Swallowtail, the Black Swallowtail, the Monarch, and the Red Admiral.

Carolina Laurel Cherry in bloom at LCNP.

Following the blooms, green, one-seeded fruits begin to develop. As they mature, the skin eventually turns a rather glossy black, which makes them attractive in a very different way from the blooms. Various birds, including American Robins and Cedar Waxwings seem to love eating these fruits, especially in late winter.

There is a fully grown Laurel Cherry right outside the entrance to the nature preserve, almost exactly across from the corner of Shirkmere and Pineshade. Once you see one of these shrubs in bloom on the edge of the forest, you will begin to notice them throughout the forest. We are thrilled that we have a native cherry growing here at The Lorraine Cherry Nature Preserve! How many can you count as you walk along the paths?