Identifying Characteristics
| Size/Form: | Redbay is a attractive, medium-sized evergreen tree that can grow up to 70 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter. In the forest it develops a clear, cylindrical bole and a dense, pyramidal crown with ascending branches. The fleshy, yellowish roots are deep and widespread. |
| Leaves: | Redbay leaves are simple, alternately arranged, and persistent. They are lance-shaped, 3 to 7 inches long and 1 to 2 inches wide. The leathery leaves are dark green above and pale green with a waxy layer below. There is rusty pubescence on the midrib. The margins are entire and the leaves emit an aromatic smell when crushed. Leaf apices are acute, while leaf bases are broadly wedge-shaped or rounded. Leaf petioles are stout, rigid, red-brown, and about ½ inch long. |
| Twigs: | The twigs of the current season are 3-angled and are somewhat fluted, light brown, and glabrous except for a coating of pale or rusty-red pubescence when they first appear. The pith is whitish, rounded, and homogeneous. |
| Bark: | The bark is reddish-brown and divided by deep, irregular fissures into broad, flat, superficially scaly ridges. If you scrape off some of the bark surface of this tree, you will find a reddish-brown layer underneath. This is a distinguishing characteristic. |
| Flowers: | The flowers of this tree are perfect, light yellow-green and appear in small clusters in leaf axils. |
| Fruit: | The fruit is a small, round, bright blue or lustrous blue-black drupe 1/3 to ½ inch long. The fruit matures in early fall. |
Similar Trees on the Florida 4-H Forest Ecology Contest List:
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