🌿 A Eurasian shrub 🌿 A North American shrub

wood laurel

9.3

A bush with shiny leaves and yellow-green flowers in spring

noun

: laurel de madera

Clusters of yellow-green flowers make the wood laurel stand out in the spring.

Examples

Gardeners often admire the glossy leaves of the wood laurel.
The wood laurel thrives in well-drained woodland soil.
The wood laurel thrives in shaded areas.
Many gardeners prefer wood laurels for their beauty.
In early summer, the wood laurel produces clusters of bright yellow-green flowers that attract bees.
The wood laurel is praised for its glossy, leathery leaves, which enhance any garden's aesthetic.
Often found in shaded woodland areas, the wood laurel grows well in damp, well-drained soil.

Synonyms

Daphne laureola

vswood laurel

Specialized

9.9

A bush with shiny thick leaves and small yellow-green flowers often found in woods

has identical meaning but uses an everyday English name

spurge laurel

vswood laurel

Specialized

9.9

A small poisonous bush with shiny thick leaves and small yellow-green flowers that grows in woods

has identical meaning but uses a different English name

Surface Forms

wood laurel singular

wood laurels plural

Morphology

wood + laurel

The compound 'wood laurel' is a straightforward noun–noun combination where 'wood' modifies 'laurel' to indicate a type or habitat (a laurel that grows in woods). This subtype/habitat compounding is a common and productive pattern in English (and cross-linguistically), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Wood laurel comes from two simple images: wood, because the plant often grows in shady forests, and laurel, because its shiny, leathery leaves look like those of true laurels. So the name helps you picture a glossy, laurel-like shrub living in the woods.