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The Carolina laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana) belongs to Rosaceae (the Rose family). It is a semi-tall evergreen tree that is native to the southeastern United States, from North Carolina south to Florida and westward to central Texas. This tree grows in valleys, lowland forests and forest edges, and to about 12 m tall. The bark is gray, thin and furrowed. The leaves are elliptic to narrow-elliptic and shiny dark green. They are usually with an entire margin, but occasionally serrulate. And they have a fragrance when crushed. The small cream-colored flowers are produced in axillary clusters in the early spring. The fruits are elliptic drupe, ripen black in fall, and which persist through winter.
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