424 



THYMEL^ACE^ 



water into strong lace patterns. Daphne japonica, D. indica^ and 

 other species are commonly cultivated in conservatories and 

 gardens for the sake of the delicious fragrance of their blossoms. 

 The berries of the Spurge Laurel {Daphne Laureola), the com- 

 moner of the two species which represent the Order in Britain, 

 are poisonous to all animals except birds ; and both the bark and 

 root of the other British species, the Mezereon (Daphne 

 Mezereum), though used in medicine, are very violent in their 

 effects. 



T. Daphne (Spurge Laurel). — Shrubs with leaves usually 



scattered and ever- 

 green ; flowers frag- 

 rant ; perianth tubu- 

 lar, with 4 spreading 

 lobes ; stamens 8, 

 sub-sessile, includ- 

 ed. (Name, the 

 Greek for a Laurel, 

 which it resembles 

 in its foliage.) 



I. D. Mezereum 

 (Mezereon).— A 

 _ shrub with few erect 



— ~\ branches ; very frag- 

 ^ \ rant, pink flowers, 

 sessile, 3 together, 

 appearing before 

 the leaves ; leaves 

 stalked, obovate, 

 acute, not ever- 

 green ; jruit red, 

 ovoid. — Woods ; 

 very rare. — Fl. February — April. Perennial. 



2. D. Laureola (Spurge Laurel). — A low shrub, about 2 feet 

 high, very little branched, and remarkable for its smooth, erect 

 stems, which are bare of leaves except at the summit. The leaves 

 are smooth, shining, leathery, and evergreen ; the flowers green, in 

 drooping, axillary clusters, and in mild weather fragrant ; the 

 berries black, ovoid, and poisonous — Woods ; not common. If 

 transplanted from the woods and potted, it may be employed 

 with advantage as a stock on which to graft D. indica. The 

 operation should be carried out in spring, with the leafy extremity 

 of a shoot rather less in diameter than the stock. Hybrids 



DAPHN6 LAUREOLA {Sj>urge Laurel). 



