A shrub or small tree with evergreen, shiny, oval leaves that taper to a point at the tip. Flowers are small, white, and arranged in racemes. The calyx and corolla are five-lobed, with numerous stamens. The fruit is a visible black drupe with a large stone.
It grows in the western Caucasus and in Talysh, in the understory of mountain forests.
The entire plant is toxic, containing the glycoside amygdalin. The leaves are used to prepare cherry laurel water, which replaces bitter almond water in the Caucasus.
