Malosma laurina

Laurel sumac

Family: Anacardiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Laurel sumac is a California native shrub found in the southwestern bioregion on slopes and in canyons within chaparral habitats at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces white flowers in delicate branched clusters. Growing 2 to 6 meters tall with an evergreen, leathery structure, it forms a distinctive shrub with branches that curve and spread. Its simple leaves are elliptic to lance-oblong, 3 to 10 centimeters long, with an unusual characteristic of being slightly folded along the midrib and ending in an abrupt-pointed tip. The small fruits are approximately 2 to 3 millimeters in diameter and have a whitish appearance.

Habitat: Slopes, canyons, chaparral

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: SW

California counties: Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, Imperial

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.