Organic Laurel Noble Seeds

Subtropical tree or shrub, species of the genus Laurus (Laurus) of the Laurel family.

Its leaves are used as a spice (bay leaf). From the name of this plant came the names Laurus, Lawrence, Laura, Lorenz, the word “laureate”, the expressions “laurel wreath (crown)” “rest on laurels”, “reap laurels”.

The laurel was considered a sacred tree, and the heads of the victors in Ancient Greece were adorned with wreaths.

The birthplace of the noble laurel is the Mediterranean. On the territory of Russia, it grows in the southwestern regions of the Krasnodar Territory.

Laurel noble is an evergreen tree or tall shrub, reaching 10-15 m in height, with brown smooth bark and bare shoots. The crown is leafy, predominantly pyramidal in shape.

Leaves are alternate, short-petiolate, whole-edged, glabrous, simple, 6–20 cm long and 2–4 cm wide, with a peculiar spicy smell; the leaf blade is oblong, lanceolate or elliptical, narrowed towards the base, dark green above, lighter on the underside.

Inflorescences umbellate, numerous, collected mainly at the ends of branches, 1-3 in the leaf axils. Umbrellas before flowering are enclosed in spherical wrappers, consisting of four elliptical scales. Flowers - small, yellowish, unisexual; staminate ones are collected in 6-12 inflorescences, pistillate (even smaller ones) - 2-3 in each. The plant is two-, very rarely monoecious.

Fruits are dark blue elliptical or ovoid drupes, about 1.5-2 cm long, with a large stone, ripen in October-November.

All parts of the plant contain essential (laurel) oil, tannins, resins, bitterness, which give them a typical aromatic smell and pleasantly bitter taste. The content of essential oil in the leaves reaches 3-5.5%, in fruits - up to 1%. In addition, the fruits contain 25-45% fatty oil, starch, phytosterol, hydrocarbon lauran, mucus, sugar.

The laurel essential oil contains pinene, cineole, myrcene, limonene, camphor, linalool, various organic acids and other components. Fatty oil consists of lauric and palmitic acid glycerols. The alkaloids actinodarfnine and launobin were isolated from the bark and wood of laurel cultivated in Japan.

Even in ancient times, the leaves and fruits of laurel were used as a spice and for medicinal purposes. Laurel leaves and twigs were a symbol of victory, glory, greatness.