CLASS VIII. ORDER I.] DAPHNE. 567 



infants as a remedy for hooping cough. The bark of this, as well as of 

 other species, contains a yellow dye, and is used for that purpose in 

 some parts of the South of Europe. 



2. D. Laure'ola, Linn. (Fig. 643.) Spurge-Laurel. Racemes 

 axillary, short, of about five smooth flowers, each accompanied with 

 an ovate bractea ; leaves smooth, evergreen, lanceolate, wedge-shaped, 

 tapering into a footstalk. 



English Botany, I. 119.— English Flora, vol. ii. p. 229.— Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 184. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 209. 



Root of long pliant branches. Stem erect, branched, from two to 

 five feet high, round, smooth, pale brown, tough and pliant, naked 

 below, leafy only at the top. Leaves crowded into a crown-like tuft, 

 elegantly drooping on all sides, from two to four inches long, lanceo- 

 late, wedge-shaped at the base, tapering into a short footstalk, quite 

 smooth and shining above, paler beneath, of a leathery texture, ever- 

 green, with a stout mid-rib and slender branched veins. Flowers 

 numerous, yellowish green, in short axillary racemes, of about five 

 flowers, each on a short peduncle^ and accompanied with a concave 

 oblong bractea. Perianth single, funnel-shaped, smooth, of a yellowish 

 green colour, the tube rather long, and marked with eight slender ribs, 

 the limb of four lanceolate spreading segments. Stamens on very 

 short filaments, with oblong yellow anthers^ four of them inserted 

 around the mouth of the tube, and four about its middle. Sti/le short. 

 Stigmas capitate, plane. Fruit an oblong smooth bluish black berry, 

 of one cell and one seed. 



Habitat. — Woods, thickets, and hedges, especially in a clay soil, 

 but not very common ; rare in Scotland. Woods about Rosslyn and 

 Bolhwell Castle. 



Shrub ; flowering in March. 



The Spurge Laurel possesses similar properties to the common 

 Mezereon, and is used for the same purposes. It is a valuable 'plant 

 for ornamenting plantations and shrubberies, as it is an evergreen, 

 and flourishes best under the shade of trees, and is uninjured by 

 their drip. It is also a very useful plant to the nurseryman, as it 

 furnishes stocks on which to graft rare and more ornamental species. 

 The flowers, like all others of a pale green or yellowish colour, are 

 very fragrant, especially in the cool of the evening. 



Of this genus we have some very beautiful exotic species, all of 

 which possess similar properties to those above described, and the bark 

 of several species has been manufactured into cordage ; that of Z). 

 Bholva in Nepal is made into a soft kind of paper : and the inner 

 bark of Lagetta lintearia, or Lace bark tree, a native of Jamaica, 

 is formed of fine tough interlaced fibres in several layers, easily sepa- 

 rated from each other, and may be pulled out into pieces of considerable 

 sire, having the appearance of a fine silk web. This curious substance 



