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The Portuguese laurel cherry is highly toxic in contrast to the real laurel tree
Portuguese laurel cherry is highly toxic
The Portuguese Laurel Cherry (Prunus lusitanica) is originally from Portugal, as the name implies. The up to six-meter high shrub or tree is also found in other Mediterranean regions such as the Canary Islands, Spain, southern France or Morocco. In our latitudes, the rather frost-hardy shrub is rather rare to find, for good reasons.
Leaves and fruits contain hydrogen cyanide compounds
As with other cherry orchards, both the leaves and the seeds of the Portuguese laurel cherry contain a cyanogenic glycoside with the substance prunasin. Prunasin contains highly toxic hydrocyanic acid, which can be released in the digestive tract in conjunction with water and certain enzymes and can have a lethal effect. Although the flesh of the dark-red berries ripening in September is non-toxic, the seeds in it are all the more dangerous.
Tips
The German Nature Conservation Union (NABU) warns against planting cherry laurels in local gardens. The plant is even referred to as the "ecological plague" because it can not be used by birds or insects as a source of food - most of the animals do not know what to do with the neophyte - and it spreads very rapidly and displaces indigenous species.