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_).