Laurel is a small evergreen tree or shrub of Lauraceae Laurus, with dark brown bark and cylindrical twigs;Leaves alternate, oblong or oblong lanceolate, apex acute or acuminate;The flowers are dioecious, and umbels are axillary;Fruit ovoid, dark purple when ripe;Flowering from March to May;Fruit period: June to September[3]。The name of laurel tree comes from the ancient legend "laurel tree".[4]
Laurel is native to the Mediterranean region, Zhejiang, ChinaJiangsu, Fujian, Taiwan, Sichuan, Yunnan and other provinces[3]。Laurel likes light and bears shade slightly. It grows well in warm and humid climate. It has no strict requirements on soil, and grows most in loose and fertile loam.Laurel is mainly propagated by cutting and can also be sown.[5]
The bark and leaves of the laurel tree are used for medicine, which can cure the pain of heart and stomach. The leaves can also wash and cure the head lice. The fruit can cure rheumatic arthritis and solve the poisoning of river dolphin[5]。The laurel tree symbolizes eternity. The ancient Romans regarded the laurel tree as a symbol of honor. Previously, the laurel tree was also considered a lightning protection tree.In western myths and legends, the laurel tree is also the symbol of Apollo, symbolizing the eternity exchanged by victory, indicating the spiritual conditions for victory, that is, wisdom and courage must be combined.[6]
The name of laurel tree comes from the ancient legend "laurel tree".[4]
morphological character
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Small evergreen trees or shrubs, up to 12 meters high, with dark brown bark.Branchlets cylindrical, with longitudinal fine stripes, young parts slightly puberulent or subglabrous.
Laurel
Leaves alternate, oblong or oblong lanceolate, 5.5-12cm long, 1.8-3.2cm wide, acute or acuminate at the apex, cuneiform at the base, wavy at the edge, leathery, dark green at the top, slightly pale at the bottom, hairless on both sides, feathery veins, raised on both sides of the midrib and lateral veins, 10-12 lateral veins on each side, arc-shaped connection at the end near the leaf edge, veinlets reticulate, more or less obvious on both sides, in the shape of a honeycomb;The petiole is 0.7-1 cm long, purple red when fresh, slightly puberulent or nearly glabrous, with grooves on the ventral surface.The flower isDioecious。
Umbrella is axillary, 1-3 arranged in clusters or short racemes, and wrapped by 4 reciprocal involucres before flowering, which is spherical;The involucral bracts are nearly round, glabrous outside, silky hairy inside, and the total stem is 7 mm long, slightly puberulent or nearly glabrous.Male flowers: each umbel has 5 flowers;The flower is small, yellowish green, pedicel is about 2 mm long, sparsely hairy, perianth tube is short, outside is densely sparsely hairy, perianth lobes 4, broadly obovate or suborbicular, both sides are covered with pubescence;The fertile stamens are usually 12, arranged in three rounds. The first round of filaments has no gland, and the middle of the first, second and third round of filaments has a pair of sessile kidney shaped glands. The anthers are oval, 2-celled, and indoor;Ovary sterile.Female flowers: usually staminode 4, alternate with perianth segments, with paired sessile glands at the top of filament, and a lanceolate tongue body extending between them;Ovary 1-locular, style short, stigma slightly enlarged, obtuse triangular.
The flower of laurel
Fruit ovoid, dark purple when ripe.The flowering period is from March to May, and the fruit period is from June to September.[3]
Reproductive methods
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Laurel is mainly propagated by cutting and can also be sown.[5]
Sowing The seeds shall be collected in the middle and late September. The collected seeds shall be stored in the sand after removing the pericarp and drying in the shade. The seeds shall be sown in the spring of the next year.When sowing, take out the seeds, soak them in 25 ℃ warm water for 24 hours, and then treat them with 150 ppm gibberellin for 2 hours before sowing.In order to maintain high humidity, the soil should be irrigated one day in advance, and the ambient temperature should be controlled above 15 ℃. After sowing, water should be replenished in time according to the environmental conditions, and seeds can germinate about 20~30 days later.[1]
cultivation techniques
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Laurus has strong adaptability to the environment, and the combination of long-term slow release fertilizer and quick release fertilizer in the first two years of transplantation can effectively promote its growth.The root system of laurel is relatively shallow. In order to improve the survival rate, it is necessary to transplant with soil balls. When the ground seedlings are weeded manually, measures should be taken to avoid root damage.When cultivating container seedlings, the container specifications will control the growth of laurel to a certain extent, so it is necessary to change the container specifications according to the growth of seedlings, so that they can have more growth space.Laurus has strong sprouting power, which can be combined with pruning for product modeling during its growth period to promote sprouting and make the tree full and compact.Laurel seedlings are easy to be frozen in winter, so measures should be taken to improve their frost resistance, or they should be moved indoors for overwintering.[1]
Key values
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gardens
The laurel tree is compact in shape, beautiful in posture, delicate in leaves, shiny, and full of rich fragrance. It is evergreen all the year round. The light yellow flowers full of trees in spring are pleasant, especially beautiful in the courtyard. The front yard of the house is used as a green wall separation space, with good concealment effect.In garden application, it can usually be made into cluster shape, single pole sphere, tower shape, tall pole sphere and natural shape.[1]
medical
The bark and leaves of the laurel tree are used for medicine, which can cure the pain of heart and stomach. The leaves can also wash and cure the head lice. The fruit can cure rheumatic arthritis and solve the poisoning of river dolphin[5]。
Research findings
In a previous study, Liu MH and others reported that two kaempferol glycosides, kaempferol-3-O - α - L - (2 ", 4" - di-E-p-p-cumaryl) - rhamnoside (C2) and kaempferol-3-O - α - L - (2 "- E-p-coumaroy-4" - Z-p-coumaroyl) - rhamnoside (C3), were isolated from laurel treesVancomycin resistant enterococcusAll of them have strong antibacterial activity.Next, it was found that these compounds can significantly reduce some of theQuinolonesMinimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of drugs against MRSA.In other words, C2 and C3 can significantly enhance the anti MRSA activity of quinolones.It has been found that C2 and C3 have synergistic effects with quinolones.These two kaempferol glycosides and hydrophilic quinolones (such asnorfloxacinandciprofloxacin）It has synergistic effect, but not with hydrophobic quinolones.Liu MH et al. also found that norfloxacin can reduce the MICs of C2 and C3, which is synergistic, and discussed the possible mechanism of this synergistic effect.[2]
Plant culture
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The laurel tree symbolizes eternity. The ancient Romans regarded the laurel tree as a symbol of honor. Previously, the laurel tree was also considered a lightning protection tree.In western myths and legends, the laurel tree is also the symbol of Apollo, symbolizing the eternity exchanged by victory, indicating the spiritual conditions for victory, that is, wisdom and courage must be combined.[6]
Habitat
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Laurel is native to the Mediterranean region, and has been introduced and cultivated in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Taiwan, Sichuan, Yunnan and other provinces of China[3]。Laurel likes light and bears shade slightly. It grows well in warm and humid climate. It has no strict requirements on soil, and grows most in loose and fertile loam.[5]
