KEY TO THIO DAPHNES 29!) 



KEY TO THE DAPHNES 



* Leaves deciduous; flowers lilac to purple in axillary clusters Feb. 



to April, before the leaves. (A.) 



A. Leaves alternate, wedge-shaped ; shrubs erect, to 4 feet. (B.) 

 B. Flowers usually 3 without stalks ; leaves green above, gray 

 below. COMMON MEZEKEON or DAPHNE (520) Daphne Meze- 

 reurn. 

 B. Flowers 2-4 with short stems ; leaves purple, almost evergreen. 



Daphne Houtteana. 



A. Leaves opposite, oblong, 1^-2 inches long ; flowers 3-7 in short- 

 stalked clusters. JAPANESE DAPHNE Daphne (ienkwa. 



* Leaves evergreen, alternate (2d B above might be looked for here). 



(CO 



C. Trailing or creeping plants with many-flowered terminal clusters 

 (April- June) and wedge-shaped leaves ; flowers fragrant. (D.) 

 D. Flowers pink; leaves ^-1 inch long. PINK GARLAND DAPHNE 

 (521) Daphne Cne6rum. 



D. Flowers white or creamy ; leaves 1-1J inch long. WHITE OAK- 

 LAND DAPHNE (522) Daphne Blagayana. 



C. Erect, 1-5 feet high. (E.) 



E. Flowers densely hairy outside in few-flowered terminal 

 heads. (F.) 



F. Flowers purple, f inch long, with bracts ; leaves 1-2 inches 

 long. SILKY DAPHNE (523) Daphne serfcea. 



F. Flowers white or nearly so, } inch long, no bracts. OLIVE- 

 LIKE DAPHNE (524) Daphne oleoides. 



F. Flowers reddish purple, very fragrant, large. HYBRID DAPHNE 

 (525) Daphne hybrida. 



E. Flowers smooth outside or nearly so. (G. ) 



G. Flowers in dense terminal clusters, white, red to purple, very 

 fragrant. SWEET DAPHNK Daphne odora. 



G. Flowers in 5-10-flowered axillary clusters, odorless, March- 

 May. WOOD DAPHNE (520) Daphne Laureola. 

 G. Flowers in 1-3-flowered axillary clusters, fragrant, April- 

 May. PONTIC DAPHNE (527) Daphne pontica. 



Daphne Mezereum, D. Cneorum, D. Blagayana are hardy to Massachu- 

 setts, D. Laureola, D. pontica to New York, others only South. 



Polygonum. The POLYGONUMS form a large genus, 200 species, of 

 mainly herbaceous plants, but two of them appear so like bushy shrubs 

 they an- introduced here, though they die down to the ground in winter. 



