Small dioecious tree to 12 m high; bark blackish brown; branchlets puberulent. Leaves alternate, aromatic when crushed; petiole c. 1 cm long; leaf blade oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 5–12 cm long, 18–32 mm wide, glabrous, upper surface slightly darker than lower; apex acute or acuminate; base cuneate; margins entire, sometimes undulate. Inflorescence globose; involucral bracts suborbicular, outer surface glabrous. Perianth segments 4, broadly obovate to suborbicular; male flowers with c. 12 stamens in 3 whorls, the inner 2 whorls with glands, the outer whorl eglandular; female flowers with c. 4 staminodes. Fruit ovoid, dark purple.
VVP, GipP, Gold, HSF. Native to the Mediterranean region, commonly cultivated, an occasional garden escape, with collections from Ivanhoe, Dandenong Ranges, and Gembrook.
Leaves of Laurus nobilis (Bay Laurel) are commonly used as a spice.
