Laurus occurs as genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. A genus includes Two-Three coinage:

L. azorica, called Azores Laurel, or even per Portuguese list Louro, Loureiro, Louro-da-terra,, & Louro-de-cheiro, is indigen to the laurisilva forests of the Azores and Madeira Islands.

L. canariensis, referred to as Canary Laurel, is indigene to the laurisilva forests of the Canary Islands. These are considered by the bit of to exist as a race of L. azorica.

L. nobilis, known usually when Bay Laurel, True Laurel, Sweet Bay, Grecian Laurel, or only Laurel, is the source of the spice Bay leaf. It was likewise a source of the Laurel wreath of ancient Greece. These are distributed through a northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea from Spain to Greece.

Fossils dating from either prior to a ice ages show that metal money of Laurus were erstwhile distributed further widely in a Mediterranean & North Africa, when a climate was additional humid & modest than now. These are presently thought that a drying out of a Mediterranean basin in the period of the glacial period driven Laurus to retreat to the mildest climate refuges, including southern Spain and the Macaronesian islands. Using a prevent of the endure glacial epoch, L. nobilis recovered a bit of of its previous range around a Mediterranean.

The recent learn encountered that indigene stands classified when L. nobilis within northern Spain shared greater inherited & morphological similarity to L. azorica than to populations of L. nobilis indigen to France and Italy.