248 THYMELACE^. 



bark, which is so acrid as to raise a blister on the skin. It 

 used to be sold for this purpose in England, and is still on the 

 Continent. 



The Lace Tree belongs to this tribe, the delicate inner bark 

 being used for the purpose indicated by the name. 



The Spurge Laurel (Daphne laureola), is an evergreen shrub 

 of two or three feet high ; its glossy evergreen leaves are 

 situated in clusters at the end of the stems. The flowers are 

 also in clusters, small, green, with a four-cleft calyx and eight 

 stamens ; they are rather fragrant. The shrub grows plenti- 

 fully on the Clink-bank, near Richmond, where my specimen 

 was gathered. 



The Mezereon (D. mezereum, Plate XIV., Jig. 12), is a 

 scarcer native species, though so abundant in gardens. When 

 first I visited Swaledale, I heard from the country people of a 

 sweet-scented shrub found in the woods early in spring. We 

 sought continually for this fabled plant, and, at last, in the 

 centre of a group of Hazels, close upon the banks of a mountain 

 rivulet, we discovered the glaucous leaves and scarlet berries of 

 the Mezereon. The flowers are of a bright pink and very 

 fragrant ; they appear in April before the leaf-buds are open. 

 Close by its retreat were trees where the thrush had reared a 

 large family that very spring, so that I was forcibly reminded 

 of the poet's song 



" Thou hast thy wish ; all love to see 

 Thy simple bloom, Mezereon tree I 

 The thrush its sweetest minstrelsy 

 Is pouring forth to welcome thee ; 

 Thy store of sweets the early bee 

 Hath sought with ready industry ; 

 And, prizing much thy beauty, we 

 Are come to greet thee joyously." 



Here is a plant, which, though humble in itself, is the repre- 

 sentative of a tribe of considerable importance. The Little 

 Bastard Toad-flax (Thesium linophyllum), with its humble 

 cluster of whitish-green flowers, and prostrate stems, is a mere 

 weed, as are the other members of its family in Europe ; but in 



