226 DAPHNE LAUREOLA 



but does not reach N. Germany or Russia ; it also occurs in the 

 Azores, Algeria, and Asia Minor. 



The peculiar green flowers appear in the winter and early spring 

 from January to April, and have a pleasant scent ; they are often 

 polygamous, some male flowers being intermixed with the ordi- 

 nary bisexual ones ; the male flowers have the perianth-tube 

 longer. The fruits are ripe in summer, by which time, in conse- 

 quence of the growth of the shoot, they are some way down the 



stem. 



Hook, f., Stud. PI., p. 622; Syme, E. Bot., viii, p. 86; Watson, 

 Comp. Cyb. Br., p. 304 ; Meisner, in DC. Prod., xiv, p. 539 ; 

 Gren. & Godr., PL Prance, iii, p. 57 ; LindL, PI. Med., p. 324. 



Official Part and Names. MEZEREI COBTEX; the dried bark of 

 Daphne Mezereum, Linn., or of Daphne Laureola, Linn. (B. P.). 

 The dried bark of the above plants (I. P.). It is not official in 

 the Pharmacopoeia of the United States, the bark of Daphne 

 Gnidium being there substituted for it. 



We have already noticed this bark in our article on " Daphne 

 Mezereum/' and also referred to the generally received opinion in 

 regard to the comparative activity of the root-bark and stem-bark 

 of that species. The same remarks also apply in this particular to 

 the present species ; but the bark generally of Daphne Laureola is 

 commonly regarded as somewhat less acrid than that of D. Mezereum. 

 Squire says that the " latter has decidedly the advantage, both in 

 the degree and duration of the irritation produced on the mucous 

 linings of the throat." The difficulty, however, of obtaining a 

 sufficient supply of the true Mezereon bark led to that of Daphne 

 Laureola being also made official in the British Pharmacopoeia 

 and the Pharmacopoeia of India. 



Collection, General Characters, and Composition. This bark, 

 which is commonly known as Spurge Laurel or Wood Laurel 

 bark, should be collected for medicinal use between November 

 and February. The stem-bark is that most commonly met with 

 in commerce. It is either collected in this country, or imported 

 from the Continent, and more especially from Germany ; but 

 at tho present time nearly all the Mezereon bark in use in the 



