Umbellularia californica - California bay

California bay (Umbellularia californica) is an evergreen tree native to the Pacific coast of North America, distinct from the Mediterranean bay laurel despite sharing the common name “bay laurel.” Its aromatic leaves are used as a bay-leaf substitute, and its seeds can be roasted and eaten or ground into flour.¹

Inputs

• Hardiness zone 7¹
• Hardiness zone 8¹
• Hardiness zone 9¹
• Hardiness zone 10¹
• Full sun¹
• Well drained soil¹
• Moist soil¹

Outputs

• Human food¹
• Medicinal use¹
• Dye¹
• Insect repellent¹

Type

• Tree
• Evergreen

Functions

• Flammable²

Footnotes

1. Umbellularia californica | Plants for a Future ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

2. Leaf burn times of California native plants, Las Pilitas Nursery, 2005 propane-torch ignition trial, live-leaf ignition time 15 seconds ↩