1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Laurustinus

LAURUSTINUS, in botany, the popular name of a common hardy evergreen garden shrub known botanically as Viburnum Tinus, with rather dark-green ovate leaves in pairs and flat-topped clusters (or corymbs) of white flowers, which are rose-coloured before expansion, and appear very early in the year. It is a native of the Mediterranean region, and was in cultivation in Britain at the end of the 16th century. Viburnum belongs to the natural order Caprifoliaceae and includes the common wayfaring tree (V. Lantana) and the guelder rose (V. Opulus).