CHAP. XCV. THYMELA‘CEX. DA’PHNE. 1307 
Da’pune L. Calyx inferior, somewhat salver-shaped ; in most, of some other 
colour than that of the leaves, and, from its shape and colour, resembling 
a corolla: segments of its limb 4, deep, ovate, or oblong, imbricate in zsti- 
vation. Stamens 8, in two rows; the filaments with buta short part distinct 
from the tube of the calyx ; the anthers not prominent beyond it. Ovary 
solitary. Ovule solitary, pendulous. Style very short. Stigma capitate. 
Fruit an ovate carpel, pulpy externally. Seed 1, pendulous. Shrubs. 
Inner bark silky. Most of the kinds evergreen. Leaves entire, in most 
alternate ; if not alternate, opposite. Flowers terminal or axillary, mostly 
in groups, highly fragrant. The whole plant, in most, perhaps in all,intensely 
acrid and dangerous. (Smith Eng. Flora; Lindl, Nat. Syst.; Brown Prod., 
and observation.) 
Di‘rca L. Calyx inferior, funnel-shaped, ending in 4 (Du Hamel has stated 
in the “ essential character” 5) unequal teeth : it is of a pale yellow colour, 
and hence, and from its figure, resembles a corolla. Stamens 8, arising 
from the middle of the calyx, and prominent beyond its tip, unequal. 
Ovary solitary. Style thread-shaped, extending a little beyond the sta- 
mens. Stigma a simple point. Fruit a dry carpel. Seed 1, pendulous. 
D. palistris Z. is the only species described; and is a low shrub, that has 
upright branches, a very tough bark, and flowers 3 together. (Du Ham., 
Bot. Reg., Lindl. N. S., and observation. ) 
Genus I. 
Lalla all! 
DA‘PHNE L. Tue Dapune. Lin. Syst. Octandria Monogfnia. 
Identification. Lin. Gen., 192.; Juss. Gen. Pl., 77.; Lam. Ill, t. 290.; Smith Eng. Flora, 2. p. 298. 
Synonyme. Thymelz*‘a Tourn. Inst., t. 366., Gerin., t. 39. 
Derivation. Daphné is asserted by Lindley, andsome other botanists, to have been the Greek name 
of the Riscus racemdsus, or Alexandrian laurel, into which it is fabled that Daphne was changed. 
** Why the name has been applied to the shrubs now called Daphne, it is not easy to say.” (Lindl. Bot. 
Reg.,t. 1177.) Itis stated in Rees’s Cyclopedia, under Laurus, that L. ndbilis “is certainly 
the Daphné of Dioscorides, and, consequently, the classical laurel. _ It is still called by the same 
name among the modern Greeks ;” this is also the popular belief (See St. Pierre’s E’tudes de la 
Nature, Lempriere’s Class. Dict., &c. &c.) Supposing the Daphné to have been the Latrus né- 
bilis, or bay tree, it is easy to account for its being applied to this genus, the D. Mexereum 
being formerly called the dwarf bay in England; and nearly all the species retaining the names of 
laureole and laureola in France and Italy. 
Description, §c. Undershrubs, evergreen and deciduous, natives chiefly of 
Europe, but partly also of the cooler parts of Asia, including Japan and 
China. The odour of some of the species is very agreeable ; and the bark of 
all of them is acrid. They are all beautiful, and rather difficult to propagate, 
except by seeds. The price of plants, in the London nurseries, is from Is. 
to 2s. 6d.for all the sorts, except D. Mezéreum, and D. Lauréola, which 
are 6d. each. 
A. Leaves deciduous. 
& 1. D. Meze‘reum L. The Mezereon Daphne, or common Mezereon, 
Identification. Lin. Sp. Pl., p.509.; Willd. Sp. Pl, 2. p.415.; Mill. Dict., n. 2; Smith Eng. 
Flora, 2. p. 228.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. f 
Synonymes. Spurge Olive, Spurge Flax; Flowering Spurge, Parkinson; Dwarf Bay, Gerard; 
Laureole femelle, Bois gentil, Mézéreon, Bois joli, Fv.; gemeiner Seidelbast, or Kellerbalz, 
Ger. ; Peperachtige Daphne, Dutch; Laureola femina, Biondella, Camelia, Ifa. ; Laureola hem- 
bra, Span. 
Derisakion, Mezereum and Mezereon are said to be derived from madzaryon, the Persian name for 
this shrub. 
Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 1381.; Cid, Fl. Dan., t. 268.; and our jig. 1180. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves lanceolate, deciduous. Flowers distributed over 
the branches in threes mostly, and in pairs and fours, expanded before the 
leaves are protruded. A native of the woods of northern Europe. ( Willd., 
Smith, and obs.) Found in woods, but rare, in the south and west of 
