CHAP. xcv. thymela'ce^e. Z)a'piine, 1307 



Z)a'phne 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 jesti- 

 vation. Stamens 8, in two rows ; the filaments with but a 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. (^Smitli Eng. Flora ; Lincll. Nat. Syst. ; Brown ProcL, 

 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. palustris L. 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., Li'iidl. X. S., and observation.) 



Genus I. 



Z)A'PHNE L. The Daphne. Lin. Syst. Octandria Monogynia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., 192. ; Jubs. Gen. PI., 77. ; Lam. 111., t. 290. ; Smith Eng. Flora, 2. p. 228. 



Syywi'iyme. riiymeliE^a Town. Inst., t. 366., Gartn., t. 39. 



Derivation. DaplinS is asserted by Lindley, and some other botanists, to have been the Greek name 

 of the /luscus racemusus, or Alexandrian laurel, into which it is faljlod that Daphne was changed. 

 " Why the name has been applied to the shrubs now called Daphne, it is not easy to say." {Lindl. Bot. 

 Beg.,\. 1177.) It is stated in Rees's Ci/cloptedia, under /.aurus. that L. nubilis "is certainly 

 the flnpA/ie 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 tie la 

 Nature, Lemprierc's Ciass. Diet., &c. &c.) Supposing the Baplini; to have been the Laurus no- 

 bilis, or bay tree, it is easy to account for its being applied to this genus, the D. Mezireum 

 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, Sfc. 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 difiicult to propagate, 

 except by seeds. The price of plants, in the London nurseries, is from 1*. 

 to 2s. Qd. for all the sorts, except D. Alezereum, and D. Laureola, which 

 are 6d. each. 



A. Leaves deciduous. 

 a I. D. AIeze^REUM L. The Mezereon Daphne, or common Mczereon. 



Identification. Lin. Sp PI., p. 509. ; WiUd. Sp. PI , 2. p. i\:>. ; Mill. Diet., n. 2. ; Smith Eng. 

 Flora, 2. p. 228. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. 



Synonymcs. Spurge Olive, Spurge Flax ; Flowering Spurge, Parkinson ; Dwarf Bay, Gerard ; 

 Laureole feraelle, Bois gentil, Mezfereon, Bois jnli, Fr. ; gcmeiner Seidelbast, or Kellerbalz, 

 Ger. ; Peperachtige Daphne, Dutch ; Laureola femina, Biondella, Camelia, Ital. ; Laureola hem- 

 bra. Span. 



Derivation. Mezereum and Mezereon are said to be derived from madzaryon, the Persian name for 

 this shrub. 



Engravings. Eng. Bot., 1. 1381. ; CEd. FL Dan., t. 268. ; and out 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. ( U'illd., 

 Smith, and obs.) Found in woods, but rare, in the south and west of 



