Plant Profile: Persea palustris

Swamp Bay is a medium-sized evergreen tree belonging to the laurel family, indigenous to the southeastern United States and typically found in the coastal plain regions of North Carolina.

**Habitat:** It thrives in swamps, pocosins, bay forests, and maritime forests, primarily in wet, peaty soils, though it can also adapt to relatively dry, sandy soils within maritime forest ecosystems.

**Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Issues:** This species faces a significant threat from a fungus (Ophiostoma sp.) that is spread by the Redbay Ambrosia beetle, which was introduced from Asia. A considerable number of Swamp Bay trees in southeastern North Carolina have succumbed to this issue. Additionally, the tree is vulnerable to laurel wilt.