Content
- The berries of the laurel cherry: Decorating but unfortunately poisonous
- Sweet fruits with a strong toxic core
- Hazardous ingredient of the kernels
- Jelly and jam from the poisonous fruit?
- Better cut off berries
- Tips & Tricks
The berries of the laurel cherry: Decorating but unfortunately poisonous
The cherry laurel with its beautifully colored, glossy foliage enjoys great popularity both as a specimen plant and as a hedge. When other trees turn off the leaves in autumn, the evergreen shrub retains the foliage and enchants the wintry garden. In spring numerous fragrant umbels appear, from which dark berries develop in the following months.
Sweet fruits with a strong toxic core
The Latin name of the cherry laurel Prunus indicates the close relationship of the ornamental shrubs with our native plums and cherries. In fact, the shiny black, about one centimeter fruits of cherry laurel resemble these popular fruits.
The pulp of the laurel cherry tastes pleasantly juicy sweet with a slightly bitter aftertaste. In it, the concentration of the toxins contained in all plant parts is lowest. The fragrance and aroma of the fruit is reminiscent of bitter almonds, which also contain traces of hydrogen cyanide and should therefore not be consumed by children.
Hazardous ingredient of the kernels
Highly toxic for children, adults and animals are the seeds contained in the berries. If the seed is bitten while eating the fruit, the hydrocyanic acid is released and it can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness and stomach pain. As children react much more sensitively to the toxin, even fewer fruits can cause respiratory arrest and unconsciousness.
Jelly and jam from the poisonous fruit?
In its Turkish homeland, the fruit of the cherry laurel is considered a delicacy and the berries are both dried and processed into jelly or jam commercially available. This is possible because the pulp of the laurel cherry is only slightly toxic and the toxins are partially destroyed by the drying and cooking process. Nevertheless, you should leave the preparation of jellies from the fruits of the cherry laurel to the experts. When passing through the berries, cores may break, the toxin may pass into the fruit pulp and render it inedible.
Better cut off berries
In households where small children live, as well as on sidewalks, it is therefore advisable to cut back the laurel cherry directly after flowering. So the bees can feed on the nectar of the flowers, but there is no danger that children inadvertently nibble on the berries.
If you do not want to miss out on the pretty berry jewelery, you should remove everything that is blooming, at least at the bottom. This cut also has advantages for the plant, which thrives stronger. Flowers and fruits need to be nourished and their training requires many nutrients.
Tips & Tricks
From the seeds contained in the fruits, you can with patience even new cherry laurel shrubs attract. Often, the seed multiplication happens all by itself, so you can dig up the germinated young plantlets in the environment of an existing cherry laurel in the spring and move them to the desired place.