Food: The leaves were used in cooking for flavoring. The fruits were eaten after being roasted in ashes, crushed, and eaten or pounded into small cakes.

Medicinal: Bay seeds were made into a poultice and applied to sores.

The leaves were cooked into a decoction for menstrual cramps. An infusion for a hot bath was used for rheumatism. A tea was a cure for neuralgia, cramps, headaches, and gastroenteritis.

Bay leaves were bound to the head for headaches and were bound to the abdomen for stomachaches. Wet bay branches were placed on a fire for a purification smoke where there had been a sickness.

The oil of the leaves was applied as a decoction for cooling the skin and as an insect repellant. Leaves were spread out on the floor of a Ki ch (home). When walked on, the leaves released fragrant oils which repelled fleas and lice.

The flowers were made into a poultice for swellings.

Construction: Laurel burls were carved into bowls.

Aromatic evergreen tree.

Blossoming December to May.

Bays can be found in canyons and valleys below 5000 ft, often in conjunction with oak trees; Chaparral, Foothill Woodlands, lower Yellow Pine Forest.