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Now I would understand if there was wild thyme and sage growing around (though not why Sam assumes Gollum would know what they looked like) but bay would be lot more unsual to find. Bay laurel requires a subtropical or at least Mediterean climate to grow well. Ithillien would have to be a fairly warm country to expect to find bays there
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In fact a Mediterranean climate was exactly what Tolkien intended; His description of Ithilien includes not only such plants as bay laurel, but also tamarisk and terebinth. Indeed, if you take Hobbiton to be at the latitude of Oxford, then Osgiliath is roughly at that of Tuscany (as he pointed out himself). After a vacation in Italy he wrote a letter referring to his return from Gondor!