California laurel

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LAUREL, CALIFORNIA

Umbellularia californica

Umbellularia californica of the family Lauraceae (the laurel family)

In the USA, there is some confusion about the names "myrtle" and "laurel" for wood but that is entirely due to this single species. My database shows 207 species that contain the word "laurel" as all or part of one or more of their common names. Then there are 97 species that have the word "myrtle" as all or part of one or more of their common names. Of all of these, there is only a single species that overlaps. that is, there is a single species (at least of the lumber-producing species in my database) that has both "laurel" and "myrtle" in various of its common names, and that is Umbellularia californica. This species is the sole species in the genus Umbellularia and it has many common names with "laurel" and many with "myrtle" but the two most common are Oregon myrtle and California Laurel, with "pepperwood" also seen a fair amount of the time. Since it is in the Lauraceae family (the laurel family), I list it as California laurel but it is also widely sold in the USA as Oregon myrtle or even just myrtle. I have particularly encountered the burl veneer listed as just myrtle burl veneer, not even Oregon myrtle burl veneer and I've seen a lot more bowls and other turned objects listed as Oregon myrtle than I have seen listed as California laurel.

This wood takes on a wide range of colors, due at least somewhat to differing soil conditions in its areas of growth. It can be a greyish tan, green, brown and shades of those.

my samples:
NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K)
colors will vary under other lighting conditions

both sides of a sample plank of Oregon myrtle / Umbellularia californica --- HUGE enlargements are present.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Oregon myrtle / Umbellularia californica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE and quartersawn side grain closeup from directly above. The side grain shot was taken just 'cause it is a perfectly quartersawn surface and shows how small the ray flakes are that accompany the very thin rays that are visible in the 2nd enlargement of the end grain update.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of quartersawn California laurel / Umbellularia californica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of rift cut California laurel / Umbellularia californica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

sample plank and end grain listed as bay laurel / Umbellularia california (note that the specific epithet should be spelled californica, not california)

end grain and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

both sides of a small piece give to me as just myrtle --- HUGE enlargements are present. Based on the end grain closeup I'm pretty confident that this is Oregon myrtle

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

face grain closeup of the piece directly above, showing some nice little ray flakes (notice that the piece is almost quartersawn)

a small plank of curly California laurel contributed to the site by Mike Stafford, whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Mike had this as just "myrtle" which a lot of people do. He also contributed the sample directly below.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

because this piece is almost perfectly quartersawn, the side grain, shown here, is nicely flat cut.

this set of pics is from a pair of small planks that started off in the same larger plank, as you can pretty well see from the first pic. This set was donated by Jim Glynn, whom I thank for this and his several other donations to the site. Jim had this as myrtle, but it is California laurel.

both pieces and a closeup of each. I flipped the first piece when I did the closeup so as to show a few bug holes.

flip side of the smaller piece

end grain and side grain shots

side grain --- the small light tan dots are where there were small indentations in the wood that got filled up with sawdust when I sanded the piece.

two end grain closeups from the pieces directly above --- for some reason the pics came out much too dark and in attempting to get the color more correct I have changed it to a washed out look that isn't quite right either, but is more correct than the very dark pics I started with. The non-closeup shots above have accurate color.

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above, with very accurate color

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of California laurel / Umbellularia californica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by Gary Schuler, who had it as myrtle. Thanks Gary. The first side is sanded to 220 grit and the second side is raw.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of slightly curly California laurel / Umbellularia californica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by Gary Schuler, who had it as myrtle. Thanks Gary. The first side is sanded to 220 grit and the second side is raw.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

both sides of a couple of small pieces out of a load of cutoffs purchased as myrtle --- HUGE enlargements are present.

both sides of a few pieces out of a load of cutoffs purchased as myrtle, includeing a spalted piece at the top --- HUGE enlargements are present.

both sides of a few pieces out of a load of cutoffs purchased as myrtle including a couple of very small spalted pieces at the bottom --- HUGE enlargements are present.

a 7" square by 4" high bowl blank that is slathered in wax but clearly has a nice figure --- HUGE enlargements are present. I bought this as Oregon myrtle.

both sides of a sample plank of curly West Coast myrtle (aka California laurel) / Umbellularia californica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This piece came from Hearne Hardwood -> Eric Krum -> Mark Peet -> me (on loan from Mark)

end grain and end grain closeup of one end of the piece directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the other end of the piece directly above

both sides of a small plank of California laurel (sold to me as myrtle) with white rot spalting. When I got this I was certain that it was spalted red alder since the face grain looks exactly like that. The end grain (see below) however, says that it's California laurel.

HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

myrtle veneer / Umbellularia californica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION D. See the note at the top of the page regarding naming of this species.

burl veneer --- on the first piece, the color is close but not quite right. The actual wood is just slightly more green than what shows up here. Color on the 2nd one is accurate. These were lised as just "myrtle" but I'm sure they are Oregon myrtle

burl veneer sheet and closeup --- color is accurate and although these were listed as just "myrtle" but I'm sure they are Oregon myrtle.

quartermatched and bookmatched veneer sheets of a lightly burled area with a lot of curl. These were listed as just "myrtle" but I'm sure they are Oregon myrtle.

bookmatched burl veneer sheets that were just listed as myrtle but which I am sure are Oregon myrtle

quartermatched burl veneer set listed as just myrtle but I'm sure this is Oregon myrtle

this curly veneer sheet spent some time on the mystery wood page before being identified by Jim Johnson as Oregon myrtle. Thanks, Jim. The color is just a little more olive green than this pic shows.

The Wood Book pics

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
California laurel (Umbellularia californica, also listed as spice tree, bay tree, and pepperwood) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

web pics:

planks listed as myrtle / Umbellularia californica and with wet and dry areas

plank listed as myrtle / Umbellularia californica

planks listed as Oregon myrtle / Umbellularia californica

slabs, all from the same vendor and all listed as myrtle / Umbellularia californica

slabs listed as Oregon myrtle

plank listed as California laurel

planks listed as Oregon myrtle

plank listed as "black streaked" oregon myrtle

plank listed as pepperwood / oregon myrtle / Umbellularia californica

planks listed as figured Oregon myrtle --- that last one is moistened for the pic and has HUGE enlargements present and show the grain very clearly

pomelle figured planks listed as Oregon myrtle

curly planks listed as Oregon myrtle

pen blanks of myrtle / Umbellularia california, listed, correctly I think, as "super curly"

fiddleback planks listed as oregon myrtle

waxed turning stock listed as oregon myrtle

California laurel bowl blanks, all from the same vendor, all waxed and all with both levels of enlargement present

plank listed as California myrtle and appears to be a burl (well, a cluster burl at least) although it was not so listed

bookmatched pairs of good-sized burl slabs, all from the same vendor and all listed as just myrtle, but I'm sure these are Oregon myrtle ... HUGE enlargements are present and I encourage you to look at one or two since this is some really beautiful stuff

veneer listed as California laurel

burl veneer listed as myrtle / Umbellularia californica and all from the same vendor --- this is unusually bland and uninteresting California laurel burl veneer

guitar back listed as California bay laurel, guitar set listed as Oregon myrtle / Umbellularia californica, and a guitar-back set listed as California laurel

instrument fronts and backs all listed as Oregon myrtle. Some of these were also designated as Umbellularia californica but none of them were listed as curly or figured even though most of them clearly are

California laurel guitar --- not listed as figured but clearly it is

guitar back listed as pepperwood / Umbellularia californica --- not listed as figured but clearly it is and then the identical guitar but with the color changed and listed as Oregon myrtle / Umbellularia californica. My guess is that the second pic was lifted and modified from the first pic.