Native Plant Highlight: Carolina Cherry Laurel / Prunus Caroliniana

By Greg Lewis

This article is courtesy of the Coast Plain Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society. The GNPS is dedicated to promoting the stewardship and conservation of Georgia’s native plants and their habitats. The Coastal Plain Chapter serves the people in the Coastal Plain ecoregion of Georgia. This includes all areas south of the Fall Line in middle Georgia, from the Alabama and Florida borders to the Atlantic ocean. To learn more, please visit their website.

Trash or Treasure? A Glimpse into Carolina Cherry Laurel (Prunus caroliniana)

Walking through the forests of Georgia is an adventure enjoyed by many. Recently, we took our grandchildren camping at a nearby state park and spent considerable time hiking and enjoying the trees, shrubs, vines, and wildflowers. The rich variation in form, texture, color, and size help calm the soul and cool the air as one meanders through the trails. Every one of those trees, shrubs, vines, and wildflowers contribute to the awesome wonder of our native forests.

That said, some of them are considered weeds, junk, or even “trash” trees. One notable example is the Prunus caroliniana (pronounced PROO-nus kairoh-lin-ee-AY-nah) or Carolina cherry laurel tree.

Photo credit: Heather Brasell

While there are certainly many reasons this native plant may not be popular (we’ll get into those later), as a rapid growing evergreen, it makes a great hedge for privacy; it’s flowers in spring and fruit in the fall; and its role as a host plant for a variety of butterflies, make it an excellent resource for wildlife.

The Carolina cherry laurel’s range in Georgia roughly follows the Fall Line across the middle of the state and south reaching into Florida (USDA zones 8A-10A). It is considered a medium size tree averaging 20-40 feet in height and 15-35 feet spread.

Photo credit: John Ruter, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org

Last month our family cleared some land down in Grady County, and it had several large Carolina cherry laurels and quite a few small ones forming a thicket underneath. The growth rate is considered moderate to rapid. It has a dense, almost pyramidal shade— making a nesting site for birds—when young, but can become more rounded as it matures.

It does well in full sun and part shade. It prefers moist, well-drained soil. However, do not plant in wet, boggy areas since too much water can cause chlorosis (yellowing of leaves) to develop.

Although the Carolina cherry laurel is not a tree you would select as a specimen tree in your landscape, it is certainly at home in natural settings. It may not have striking fall foliage, but as an evergreen, it makes for an excellent privacy hedge.

In the spring, it boasts white, showy, fragrant flowers, developing into green drupes in late summer which turn black in the fall.

The primary pests are mites, borers, and caterpillars. Diseases include leaf spot, fire-blight, and stem canker. It propagates easily through seeds (helped by our flying friends) as well as semi-hardwood cuttings and softwood cuttings.

On the downside, the Carolina cherry laurel is not a specimen tree, it does not have showy fall foliage or flowers—really not much to recommend so far. And wait, it gets worse. When fresh leaves are eaten by people, cattle, horses, sheep, goats, dogs, birds, hydrogen cyanide is released in the stomach making it toxic to those who consume the leaves*.

Not only that, it has also made the list of “Plants to avoid”. The fruit will drop on pavement and sidewalk to make a (sometimes) slippery mess. While its form can be quite dense and works nicely as a hedge, that same property can become a thicket and difficult to traverse. Despite all of this, the Carolina cherry laurel does have its redeeming qualities.

It is not uncommon for customers at Flat Creek Natives, LLC to request deer resistant plants. Due to its previously mentioned toxicity, the cherry laurel is unappealing to deer. So, this is one of the options from which customers can choose. Flat Creek Natives, LLC also gets numerous requests for pollinator friendly plants. Another positive quality of the cherry laurel is its fruit provides sustenance to many wildlife species during the late fall and even winter as the fruits dry.

Virginia Linch, Project Director of Butterflies & Blooms in the Briar Patch, a nationally recognized pollinator habitat since 2013, recently requested some Carolina cherry laurel. I was quite interested in why she wanted some for the Butterflies & Blooms in the Briar Patch (if you are near Eatonton, GA make a point to visit this treasure).

She did not hesitate to provide a litany of benefits the Carolina cherry laurel provides. As mentioned previously, it is a native evergreen, but she emphasized it also provides nectar and pollen in the spring for pollinators and fruit for birds and other wildlife in the fall.

Photo credit: John Ruter, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org

This native tree can be pruned to keep as a hedge which adds visual appeal to gardens while providing cover for wildlife during the bare winter months. She further explained the importance of the Carolina cherry laurel to the butterflies and other pollinators due to the blooms providing nectar and pollen.

The characteristics of this larval host plant fill the critical need for life cycles of the Georgia State butterfly, the tiger swallowtail, as well as many other species. Actually, the array of species using the Carolina cherry laurel as larval host (where the butterflies lay their eggs and provide food for the larvae) is impressive: eastern tiger swallowtail, cherry gall azure, viceroy, Columbia silkmoth, promethea moth, small-eyed sphinx moth, wild cherry sphinx moth, banded tussock moth, bandedged prominent, and spotted apatelodes.

One more redeeming quality (and maybe the least important one) is the leaves give a maraschino cherry fragrance when crushed.

Given the increasing population density and new subdivisions sprouting in many Southern cities, having a multi-functional, evergreen, living hedge like the Carolina cherry laurel makes sense. It is a host for butterflies, provides cover for wildlife, and screening from neighbors. Don’t discount the Carolina cherry laurel based simply on its negative characteristics, but look at the positive benefits and see if this native plant might fit your needs.

References

Prunus caroliniana. Prunus caroliniana (Carolina Cherry Laurel, Carolina Cherry-Laurel, Carolina Laurel Cherry) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2021, from https://plants.ces. ncsu.edu/plants/prunus-caroliniana/. Prunus caroliniana (Cherry Laurel). Prunus caroliniana - Trees and Power Lines - Edward F. Gilman - UF/IFAS. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29, 2021, from https://hort.ifas. ufl.edu/treesandpowerlines/prunus_caroliniana.shtml. Boyd, J., Yelverton, F., & Murphy, T. (n.d.). Plants Poisonous to Livestock in the Southern US. Retrieved August 29, 2021, from https://www.uaex.edu/farm-ranch/ pest-management/weed/poisonous_weeds.pdf. * (https://www.uaex.edu/farm-ranch/pest-management/ weed/poisonous_weeds.pdf)