Viburnum tinus

Viburnum tinus (laurustinus or laurustine or laurestine) is a species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae, native to the Mediterranean area of Europe and North Africa. Laurus signifies the leaves' similarities to bay laurel.

It is a shrub (rarely a small tree) reaching 2-7 m (7-23 ft) tall and 3 m (10 ft) broad, with a dense, rounded crown. The leaves are evergreen, persisting 2-3 years, ovate to elliptic, borne in opposite pairs, 4-10 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, with an entire margin.

The flowers are small, white or light pink, produced from reddish-pink buds in dense cymes 5-10 cm diameter in the winter. The fragrant flowers are bisexual and pentamerous. The flowering period is in winter, or from October to June in the northern hemisphere. The five petals are tubular, with rounded, rounded corolla lobes and pink in the bud, later white. There is only one circle with five stamens. Pollination is by insects. The fruit is a dark blue-black drupe 5-7 mm long. A 2020 study of the fruit's metallic blue hue revealed microscopic globules of fat to be the cause, an example of structural color, which is unusual in plants.

Leaves have domatia where predatory and microbivorous mites can be housed.

Native to the Mediterranean Region, Viburnum tinus prefers shady, moist areas. It is most commonly found in the western Mediterranean due to a shorter drought season and is one of the dominant species of Mediterranean sclerophyllous shrubland. It has also been introduced to Australia, Pakistan, California, Oregon and Tajikistan.

Viburnum tinus is widely cultivated for its winter blooms and metallic blue berries. It is hardy down to -10 ºC (14 ºF). The cultivars ˜Eve Price, ˜French White and Gwenllian have gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit.