bay tree

This tree is named only in Psalm 37:35, King James Version

The Hebrew word so rendered is ereh, which simply means “native born”, i.e., a tree not transplanted, but growing on its native soil, and therefore luxuriantly.

If the psalmist intended by this word to denote any particular tree, it may have been the evergreen bay laurel (Laurus nobilis), which is a native of Israel. Instead of “like a green bay tree” in the King James Version, the Revised King James Version has, “like a green tree in its native soil.”