2i8 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



habitat, hedgerows by the wa3^side or the fields being 

 also the sort of place in which to look for the Spurge 

 Laurel. It is found in damp oakwoods on clay and 

 loam, on limestone in ashwoods, and on chalk in 

 beechwoods as well as in chalk scrub. 



Spurge Laurel has the shrub habit, having a stem 

 branched from near the base, with leathery bark. 

 The leaves are mainly at the end of the branches, 

 which are erect, devoid of hairs. The leaves are 

 leathery, inversely oblong, ovate to lance-shaped, 

 narrow below, acute, more or less stalkless, crowded 

 at the top of the branches. 



The flowers are j^ellowish-green, funnel-shaped, in 

 clusters or short racemes or cymes, three to five in 

 the axils of the leaves, drooping, with bracts, which 

 are oblong and fall eventually. The flowers are 

 somewhat included. There are complete as well as 

 male flowers. The perianth-lobes are half as long as 

 the tube. The berries are bluish-black, ovoid. 



In height Spurge Laurel varies from 2 to 4 ft., 

 flowering from February to April, being one of the 

 earliest flowering plants. It is a perennial shrub. 



Honey is secreted at the base of the ovary. Owing 

 to the long tube only long-lipped insects can get at 

 it. Anthers and stigma ripen simultaneously, and 

 the stamens are more or less on a level with the 

 stigma, so that cross-pollination may occur if insects 

 visit the flowers and self-pollination in their absence. 



The fruit is dispersed by birds. 



The names Dwarf Bay, Fox-poison, Laurel, Copse 



