El laurel

The laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) –in Arabic rand– was grown in the Alhambra in mediaeval times and had many uses: for seasoning food, as an insecticide, for curing sick animals, etc. There is an impressive laurel covering the Water Staircase in the Generalife. This garden feature is mentioned as early as 1526 by the Venetian Ambassador Andrea Navagero, who described the handrails with water channels of glazed ceramic, although in his account they were made of stone. Water flows down these channels eventually becoming a cascade, wetting those who walk up. From archive documents, we know that originally the fountains were adorned with tiles and that the staircase was covered by a vine pergola and not by the laurel we see today. This laurel roof may have been planted between 1854 and 1858 when the High Gardens were built, although this is still only a hypothesis.