228 OCTANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Daphne. 



218. DAPHNE. Mezereon, and Spurge- 

 laurel. 



Linn. Gen. 192. Juss.77. Fl. Br. 420. Lam. t.29Q. 

 Thymelaga. Town. t.3&Q. Gcertn. t. 39. 



Nat. Ord. Vepreculce. Linn. 31. Thymelcea;. Juss. 25. 



Cal. inferior, of 1 leaf, tubular, withering ; tube cylindrical, 

 coriaceous, longer than the limb, imperforate at the base, 

 containing the stamens ; limb in 4 deep, ovate, spreading, 

 coloured segments. Pet. none. Filam. short, in 2 rows, 

 from about the middle of the tube. Anth. roundish- 

 oblong, of 2 cells, simple, contained within the tube. 

 Germ, superior, ovate. Style very short, terminal. Stigma 

 capitate, depressed, entire. Berry oval, of 1 cell. Seed 

 solitary, pendulous, oval, large, with a thin brittle skin. 



Shrubs, with a silky inner bark. Leaves simple, undivided, 

 entire. Fl. highly fragrant. Whole plant generally in- 

 tensely acrid and dangerous. 



\.Y>. Mezereum. Common Mezereon. Spurge-olive. 



Flowers naked on the stem, sessile, about three together. 

 Leaves lanceolate, deciduous. 



D. Mezereum. Linn. Sp. PL 509. mild. v. 2. 415. Fl. Br. 420. 

 Engl. Bot.v. 20. t.]3Si. Woodv. Med. Bot.t.23. Meijrick Misc. 

 Bot.t.X. Burton V. 3. 33. Fl.Dan. t.268. Bull. Fr.t.l. Ehrh. 

 PI. Of. 313. 



Daphnoides. Matth.Falgr.v.2.557.f. Corner. Epit. 937./. Fuchs. 

 Hist. 227. f. 



D. vulgare. Gesn. Fasc. 1.9. t. 3.f. 10, 



Thymelaea. Trcig. Hist. 957. f. 



Th. n. 1024. Hall. Hist. v. 1.438. 



In woods, but rare. 



Near Andover plentifully. Miller. At Laxfield, Suffolk. Mr. Wood- 

 ward. In Needwood forest, Staffordshire 3 Mr. Pitt. fVitliering. 

 At Eastham and Stanford, Worcestershire. Rev. E. Whitehead. 

 Near Appleton, Berks. Professor Williams. In Witch-wood 

 forest, Oxfordshire ; Mr. Isaac Wheeler of Oxford. Purton. 



Shrub. March. 



Stem bushy, 4 or 5 feet high, with upright, alternate, smooth, 

 tough and pliant branches ; leafy while young. Leaves scat- 

 tered, stalked, lanceolate, smooth, 2 inches long, appearing 

 after the flowers, and soon accompanied by flower-buds for 

 the next season. Fl. highly, and to many persons too power- 

 fully, fragrant, seated in little tufts on the naked branches, with 

 several brown, smooth, ovate bracteas underneath. Calyx like 



