DAPHNE. 129 



DAPHNE. 



THYMELE^E. OCTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



This genus is named from the nymph beloved of Apollo : some of 

 the species greatly resembling the bay. 



OF this genus, the most beautiful kind, and the kind 

 most frequent in our gardens, is the Daphne Mezereon : 

 also called Spurge-olive, German Olive-spurge, Spurge- 

 flax, Flowering-spurge, and Dwarf Bay. Most of the 

 European languages give it a name equivalent to Female 

 Bay. The French call it laureole femelk ; laureole gen- 

 tille; boisjoli; bois gentille ; mal-herbe: in the villages, 

 dzentdliet. The Italians, Daphnoide; laureolafemina; 

 biondella [little fair-one] ; camelea, and calmolea. 



The Daphne Mezereon is a handsome shrub: the 

 flowers come out before the leaves, early in the spring ; 

 they grow in clusters all round the shoots of the former 

 year. Thus it is as Cowper says : 



" Though leafless well attired, and thick beset 

 With blushing wreaths, investing every spray." 



It is a native of almost every part of Europe : with us, 

 it is very common in the beech woods in Buckingham- 

 shire. The name Mezereon is said to have been bor- 

 rowed from the Dutch. 



The branches of the Daphne Mezereon make a good 

 yellow dye. The berries are a powerful poison, but the 

 bark is a very useful and valuable medicine. The two 

 principal varieties of this species of the Daphne are the 

 White-flowered, which has yellow berries, and the Peach- 

 coloured, of which the berries are red. 



The Mezereon is very sweet-scented ; and, where there 



