Persea borbonia or redbay[3] is a small, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae), native to the southeastern United States.

[7] The tree can live for 80 to 100 years[1] Persea borbonia grows in the coastal margins of the southeastern United States.

Due to an invasion of redbay ambrosia beetle in the Southern United States the tree is slowly dying out.

The beetle was discovered in 2002 near Savannah, Georgia and it carries a laurel wilt fungal disease that is responsible for killing redbays.

[citation needed] The plant is not widely used now for medicinal purposes, however members of the Seminole tribe formerly used it as an emetic to induce vomiting.