224 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 
Spurge Laurel (Daphne Laureola, L.) 
A southern type, Spurge Laurel is not represented in fossil seed- 
bearing deposits. It is found to-day in Europe in the N. Temperate 
Zone, south of Belgium, except in Russia and Greece, and in N. Africa 
and W. Asia. In Great Britain, Spurge Laurel is generally dis- 
tributed, but does not grow in Cornwall in the Peninsula province; in 
the Channel province generally, except in S. Sussex; in the Thames 
3-2 ‘ 
Photo, Flatters & Garnett 
SPURGE LAUREL (Daphne Laureola, L.) 
province, except in W. Kent; in N. Wales, only in Carnarvon and 
Anglesea; throughout the Trent provinces, except in S. Lincs; in the 
Mersey province, only in Chester; in the Humber province; and in 
Scotland, only in Stirling; or generally from Durham to Devon and 
Kent, and in the Channel Isles. 
Spurge Laurel grows in many shaded, secluded spots under hedges, 
especially in fields and by the roadside. Here and there it is obviously 
planted, but in woods and plantations and along some highways con- 
tiguous to woods it may be truly native. 
It is a medium-sized shrub, with an erect, woody stem, which 
seldom branches, and the leaves are mainly at the end of each stem, 
