Red bay

Laurus borbonia Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 370. 1753; Persea littoralis Small; Tamala borbonia (Linnaeus) Rafinesque; T. littoralis (Small) Small

Trees , to 25 m. Branches appressed-pubescent. Leaf blade narrowly elliptic to widely ovate, 6-16 × 2-5 cm; surfaces abaxially pale, glaucous, moderately pubescent when young with rusty brown, appressed hairs, glabrescent with age, adaxially green, lustrous. Inflorescences: peduncle equal to or shorter than subtending leaf petiole, pubescent. Drupe (8-)10 mm diam., usually glaucous. 2 n = 24.

Flowering spring-early summer. In hammocks, mixed hardwoods, coastal dunes, maritime forests; outer Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, rarely in the Piedmont; 0-100 m; Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex.

Some Native Americans used Persea borbonia for medicinal purposes (D. E. Moerman 1986).