228 OCTANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Daphne. 



218. DAPHNE. Mezereon, and Spurge- 

 laurel. 



Linn. Gen. 192. Juss. 77- Fl. Br. 420. Lam. t. 290. 

 Thymelaea. Tourn.t.2,Q(i. Gcertn.t. 39. 



Nat. Ord. Vepreculce. Linn. 31. Thymelcece. Juss. 25. 



Cal. inferior, of 1 leaf, tubular, withering; tube cylindrical, 

 coriaceous, longer than the limb, imperforate at the base, 

 containing the stamens ; limb in 4< deep, ovate, spreading, 

 coloured segments. Pet. none. Filam. short, in 2 rows, 

 from about the middle of the tube. Anth. roundish- 

 oblong, of 2 cells, simple, contained within the tube. 

 Germ, superior, ovate. Style very short, terminal. Stigma 

 capitate, depressed, entire. Berry oval, of 1 cell. Seed 

 solitary, pendulous, oval, large, with a thin brittle skin. 



Sh7'ubs, with a silky inner bark. Leaves simple, undivided, 

 entire. Fl. highly fragrant. Whole plant generally in- 

 tensely acrid and dangerous. 



l.T). 3Iezereu7?i. Common Mezereon. Spurge-olive. 



Flowers naked on the stem, sessile, about three together. 

 Leaves lanceolate, deciduous. 



D. Mezereum. Linn. Sp. PL 509. TVilld. v. 2. 415. Fl. Br. 420. 



Engl. Bot.v.20.t. 1381. Woodv. Med. Bot.t. 23. Meijrick Misc. 



Bot. t. 1 . Purton v. 3. 33. Fl. Dan. t. 268. Bull. Fr. t. 1. Ehrh. 



PL Off.3\3. 

 Daphnoides. Maith.Falgr.v.2.b57.f. Camer.Epit.937 . f. Fuchs. 



Hist. 227. f. 

 D. vulgare. Gesn. Fasc. \. 9. t.3.f. 10. 

 ThymelEea. Trag. Hist. 957. f. 

 Th. n. 1024. HalL Hist.v. 1. 438. 



In woods, but rare. 



Near Andover plentifully. Miller. At Laxfield, Suffolk. Mr. Wood- 

 ward. In Needwood forest, Staffordshire ; Mr. Pitt. Withering. 

 At Eastham and Stanford, Worcestershire. Rev. E. ffliitehead. 

 Near Appleton, Berks. Professor Williams. In Witch-wood 

 forest, Oxfordshire ; Mr. Isaac Wheeler of Oxford. Purton. 



Shrub. March. 



Stem bushy, 4 or 5 feet high, with upright, alternate, smooth, 

 tough and pliant branches ; leafy while young. Leaves scat- 

 tered, stalked, lanceolate, smooth, 2 inches long, appearing 

 after the flowers^ and soon accompanied by flower-buds for 

 the next season. Fl. highly, and to many persons too power- 

 fully, fragrant, seated in little tufts on the naked branches, with 

 several brown, smooth, ovate bracteas underneath. Calyx like 



