NAT. ORDER 



Thymelaceee. 



DAPHNE MEZEREUM. ' ' MEZEREON. 



Class VIII. OcTANDRiA. Order I. Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. Cahjx, none. Corolla, four-cleft, withering, enclosing 



the stamens. Drupe, one-seeded. * 



Spe. Char. Flowers, sessile, in threes on the stem. Leaves, lance- 

 olate, deciduous. 



The Mezereon is a hardy shrub, which usually grows to the 

 height of five or six feet, and sends off several branches ; the ex- 

 terior bark is smooth, and of a gray color ; the root is of a fibrous 

 texture, of a 2>ale color, and covered with smooth olive-colored 

 bark ; the leaves are {ew, tender, lance-shaped, sessile, deciduous, 

 and appear at the terminations of the branches, after the flowers 

 have expanded ; xhejlowers surround the branches in thick clus- 

 ters ; they are sessile, monopetalous, tubular, having the limb di- 

 vided into four oval, spreading segments, generally of a purple 

 color ; the stamens are eight, alternately shorter, and concealed 

 within the tube of the corolla ; the style is very short, the stig7na 

 flat, and the germen, which is oval, becomes a reddish berry, con- 

 taining a round seed. 



This shrub is a native of England, though not very common. 

 We are informed that it grows wild in the woods near Andover 

 in Hampshire, and also about Loxfield in Suffolk ; but it is gene- 

 rally cultivated in gardens, on account of the beauty and earliness 

 of its flowers, which appear in February and March. 



This plant is extremely acrid, especially when fresh ; and if 



Vol. ii.— 95 



