MEZEREUM FAMILY 



DAPHNE. SPURGE LAUREL. 



Daphne mcscreum. 



MEZERON 



Daphne, the name of the nymph transformed by Apollo 

 into a laurel. 



Low, hardy, one to four feet high ; a native of Europe and 

 Asia which has escaped from cultivation and is now found spar- 

 ingly in Massachusetts and New York, also in Canada. 



Leaves. — Alternate, simple, thin, three to five inches long, 

 oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate, narrowed at base, entire, acute 

 at apex, smooth, bright green. Petioles very short. 



Flowers. — April, before the leaves. Perfect, rose-purple, 

 rarely white, very fragrant, borne in sessile clusters of two to 

 live, on the shoots of the preceding year. 



Calyx. — Salver-shaped ; tube about half an inch long, downy : 

 lobes four, spreading, about as long as the tube. 



Stamens. — Eight, in two rows, included, inserted on the calyx- 

 tube ; filaments very short. 



Pistil. — Ovary superior, one-celled ; style short ; stigma large, 

 capitate. 



Fruit. — An oblong-oval red drupe, a quarter of an inch long. 



Daphne mezercum is widely distributed, common 

 over nearly the whole of Europe and northern Asia 

 and found in the Arctic regions. For cen- 

 turies it has been a favorite garden plant 

 in Europe, but in this country is too rarely 

 seen. It is of erect habit, one to three feet 

 high, with rigid branches; in summer each 

 is crowned with a tuft of narrow deciduous 

 leaves. 



The flowers appear before the leaves, in 

 numerous clusters of two or three, along 

 the wood of the preceding year, and are 

 422 





um, in flowe 



