We have a Redbay that we planted as a host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail. With all the berries we have had, I have never had a seedling bu then I haven't tried planting the seeds either. It does have a nice scent to the leaves and they turn a pretty reddish yellow in later fall. It did bring in the Spicebush Swallowtails but they prefer to lay on my Camphor trees that came up as volunteers after I planted the REdbay. There is a disease in some of the bay trees, actually a beetle I think but it hasn't reached this far south yet. If you do a search on Redbay I think you will find info on it. It was either on this forum or the Butterfly forum.

I've been propagating these from seed lately. There in the same genus as the avocado. The fruits look like little black avocada's when ripe. Just pop the seed out of the thin skin and wash them off and plant. It can take a few months for them to sprout. I think they grow relatively fast, similar to the growth rate of red maple.

It's galls which infest them, but its not a big problem, let them do it if it happens, you won't be able to stop them. I have two red bays I planted, I love them. Great berries for birds. You can use the leaves as bay leaves for cooking.

Gary

The Asian Ambrosia Beetle attacks the trees and kills them. For more information, see this link:

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=93203

And this one as well, which shows you what to look for:

http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/x.glabratus.html

I hope you don't get infected. Good luck!

I'm part of the Florida Division of Forestry's Forest Health Section, one of the groups in the three affected states (so far) that are studying the problem. It's now being referred to as "laurel wilt," because although the vector is the redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus), what actually kills the tree is the wilt fungus that the beetle introduces (Raffaelea sp.). It has been found to affect a number of species in the laurel family (Lauraceae), and our native Persea species are being particularly hard-hit. This is an exotic insect (from Asia) and the exotic fungus with which it has a symbiotic relationship, probably introduced as a stowaway in solid wood packing material.

I'm afraid the info on the doacs websites is pretty out-of-date. Even the DOF website, in particular the distribution map, is out of date - I'm making a note to send some updates to our web people today. We have been contributing, along with other agencies, to a more comprehensive laurel wilt website hosted by the US Forest Service, which you can see here: Laurel Wilt

Due to the rapid spread of laurel wilt and its major impact on our native Persea species, an effort has been started to collect seed at the National Seed Laboratory to conserve the genetic diversity of these trees. If you have trees with ripening seed, you can contribute to the effort. See this page for details.

Thanks for the info. I will definitely collect seeds and send them in ASAP.

I read everything about redbay on the Division of Forestry website (two posts above). The redbay is a valuable native tree that is highly threatened. How can I confirm that my tree is actually redbay? Should I raise some seedlings and plant in the wetlands that adjoin my property so we don't lose this species? There are small berries on the tree now, most are green but a few are deep purple.

Persea can be tricky to identify at first, because its leaves are not very distinctively shaped (alternate, simple, entire, and elliptical). But once you know what to look for, you'll be surprised at how often you run into it.

First of all, when you crush the leaves in your fingers or scratch a twig, you'll be able to smell a pleasant, spicy aroma. As bghay mentioned, the leaves can be used in place of commercial bay leaves for cooking.

Another easy way to confirm that it's a native Persea is to look for places where the edges of the leaves are distorted and curled over into these funny bulges, that may be silvery-white or brown. These are the galls that dghays mentioned, damage from the redbay psyllid (Trioza magnoliae). They don't cause serious harm to the tree. Some Persea trees will just be loaded with galls, and some will not have many, but usually there will be at least a few. When you see that, you can be pretty sure that you've got a redbay or related species.

From there, it can be a little trickier to distinguish between the different species of Persea, but there's an easy way to tell between the two most common species, redbay (P. borbonia), and swamp bay (P. palustris). You can do the "tongue test." Place the underside of the leaf lightly against your tongue. If it feels distinctly fuzzy, you've got swamp bay. If it feels smooth, it's redbay. Unfortunately, both of these species (or subspecies, depending on which botanist you believe) are equally susceptible to laurel wilt.

Or, you can post a picture here, and we can all compete for who gets to ID it first. ;-)

Oh, and to answer your second question - it doesn't hurt to plant some if you've got the room and the seed, but be sure to plant it where it won't cause a problem if it dies in the future. The beetle seems to colonize the largest trees first, and we haven't seen this problem occur very much in seedlings or saplings less than one inch in diameter.

Mary let us know on the Butterfly Forum about sending in our redbay seeds, so yesterday I collected 9 seeds from one of my bigger, mature trees. There is another big tree up close to the main road that has a lot of seeds on it, but even on my ladder with rake in hand to pull down a branch, I still couldn't reach them. So I hope the ones I sent are enough to help out. I filled out the form, and I'll be mailing them out today. I can't tell for sure if my trees are redbay or swamp bay, so I just identified the seeds as coming from one or the other. I've ordered and planted both types to add to the natural perseas on my property, and I can't tell the difference between the two even after they've been ID'd by the nursery for me. I put a leaf in my mouth, and I think I could feel some hairiness, so they're probably from swampbay, but I'm not sure.
Sherry

I'm not sure whether I have a Redbay or a Swampbay, but I planted some seeds yesterday. They do look like miniature avocados but purplish black in color. I'll post photos of the leaves and drupes on this forum in a few days. I'm sure the experts out there will identify which one I have.

Somehow I knew the folks on the Florida Gardening forum would be interested in helping out!

BTW, we've updated our DOF website so that it links to the up-to-date county distribution map: here. If anyone sees symptomatic trees outside of the counties shown there, we'd like to hear about it.