Swamp red bay

Tamala palustris Rafinesque, Sylva Tellur., 137. 1838; Persea borbonia var. pubescens (Pursh) Little; P. pubescens (Pursh) Sargent; Tamala pubescens (Pursh) Small

Trees , to 15(-20) m. Branches pubescent, hairs erect, crisped. Leaf blade ovate to elliptic, 8-14 × 2-5 cm; surfaces abaxially pale, glaucous, densely pubescent when young with rusty brown, erect, crisped hairs, glabrescent with age, adaxially green, lustrous. Inflorescences: peduncle longer than subtending leaf petiole, pubescent. Drupe ca. 8 mm wide. 2 n = 24.

Flowering spring-early summer. Primarily in wetlands but not restricted to them; swamps, marshes, low pinewoods, savannas, maritime forests (sometimes mixed with P . borbonia ); Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, less common in the Piedmont; 0-185 m; Ala., Del., Fla. Ga., La., Md., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex., Va.; West Indies (Bahamas).