# Carolina Laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana)

> A fast native evergreen for screens and hedges, with glossy leaves, fragrant late-winter flowers and black fruit for birds.

Also called Carolina cherry laurel, cherry laurel, laurel cherry, Laurocerasus caroliniana. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-laurelcherry/

![Carolina laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana) glossy evergreen leaves and short spikes of creamy flowers](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/carolina-laurelcherry-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Melissa McMasters, CC BY 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACherry_laurel_%2824954238841%29.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Small tree
- Mature height: 15 to 40 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 10
- Grows wild in: The coast, sandy barrens, stream banks, old fields and edges
- Native range: 8 states, north to North Carolina, south to Florida and west to Texas (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas). Also recorded in 2 other states, outside its native range
- Sun: Full, Part, Shade
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Fast
- Traits: Evergreen, Hedge or screen, Wildlife value, Showy flowers, Drought tolerant, Street tree
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Carolina laurelcherry is an evergreen cherry of the southeastern Coastal Plain, probably native first to the maritime forests of the barrier islands. Its dense, glossy foliage made it a favorite for screens and clipped hedges across the Southeast. Unlike the wild plums and cherries we grow, it keeps its leaves all year. Crushed leaves and green twigs smell of maraschino cherry. Trained to one trunk it makes a small to medium street tree that fits a sidewalk tree pit or a strip 3 feet wide. Plant it as a quick evergreen screen or a tall hedge along a property line.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Carolina laurelcherry grows fast, and our growth estimator gives it about two and three quarter feet a year while young. It makes a dense, upright tree 15 to 40 feet tall with a crown 15 to 25 feet wide, and it is often smaller in the open.

Small, creamy white flowers open in short, dense spikes among the leaves from February into April, and they are fragrant. The shiny black fruit, about half an inch long, ripens in September and October, and some hangs on through winter. Songbirds, wild turkeys, quail, raccoons and foxes eat it. Its leaves feed the caterpillars of the eastern tiger swallowtail and the coral hairstreak.

It grows wild on the Coastal Plain from southeastern North Carolina to Florida and west to eastern Texas, in maritime forests, stream bottoms and thickets. Most inland stands, as in Arkansas, grew from garden plants spread by birds, and now and then it escapes in California.

## How to grow Carolina Laurelcherry

Carolina laurelcherry grows best in full sun and also takes part or full shade. It wants a well-drained soil of sand, loam or clay. Acid or alkaline soil suits it, and once rooted it takes drought. Do not plant it where water stands, since wet soil rots the roots. It takes some salt wind but not direct salt spray. Plant it 15 feet from a wall and 15 feet from overhead wires, and set trees 10 feet apart for a screen.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them from fall into early spring, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the trunk. Sow the cleaned pits in fall, half an inch deep under hardware cloth. For spring, keep them damp and warm for one to two months, then chill them in the refrigerator for two to three months.

Water weekly through the first summer, then only in a long drought, since too much water yellows and kills it. Regular trimming keeps a hedge dense. Keep prunings away from livestock and pets, since the leaves are poisonous, above all as they wilt. It self-sows freely, and hundreds of seedlings can come up under one tree in a year, so pull the ones you do not want.

A single tree sets fruit without a partner. Bees crowd the flowers. Borers attack trees weakened by drought, and mites, leaf spot and fire blight also show up.

## Sources

- [Flora of North America, vol. 9: Prunus caroliniana](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250100385)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Prunus caroliniana](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/prunus-caroliniana/)
- [UF/IFAS Extension, ENH-664/ST505: Prunus caroliniana, Cherry-Laurel](https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST505)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Prunus caroliniana](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=286443)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Prunus caroliniana](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PRCA)
- [Florida Native Plant Society: Prunus caroliniana](https://www.fnps.org/plant/prunus-caroliniana)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: Carolina laurelcherry](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=349)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Prunus chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Prunus.pdf)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Prunus caroliniana](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.147889/Prunus_caroliniana)
- [BONAP North American Plant Atlas (2014): Prunus caroliniana state map](http://bonap.net/MapGallery/State/Prunus%20caroliniana.png)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Multistem or single stem? Sometimes the trunk is hiding the answer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/multistem-or-single-stem/index.html.md)
- [Leaf litter, not wood chips, under the canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/leaf-litter-not-wood-chips/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Carolina Laurelcherry, add ?species=carolina-laurelcherry with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=carolina-laurelcherry&zone=7&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Carolina Laurelcherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=carolina-laurelcherry): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=carolina-laurelcherry
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Carolina Laurelcherry is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=carolina-laurelcherry
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Carolina Laurelcherry needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=carolina-laurelcherry:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Carolina Laurelcherry flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.