[citation needed] The alternate leaves usually form dense whorls at the shoot tips, but may clothe entire branches.

The inconspicuous yellow-green axial flowers, usually hidden among the leaf bases, may be strongly fragrant, or may exhibit no scent at all.

[5] However, unlike D. mezereum, D. laureola is evergreen, with yellowish-green flowers borne very early in the spring and black berries, which are poisonous to humans but not to birds, present from late summer.

Growing in sun or shade, it is well-suited to the temperate forest understory and can rapidly colonize areas (both by seeding and by root suckering) to form monotypic stands and out-compete native vegetation.

Gilbert White called it dwarf laurel, and on 5th December 1783 "fetched them" from the high wood and hanger at Selborne and planted them in his garden.