DAPHNE 



MEZEBEON OBDEB 



777 



C. THYMELiEACE^-Mezereon Order 



An order consisting chiefly of trees or shrubs, very rarely annual slender 

 herbs, with a tough fibrous bark, and opposite or often alternate or scattered 

 leaves, and no stipules. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite, or polygamous or 

 dioecious by abortion, and borne in terminal or axillary spikes or heads. 

 Perianth inferior tubular bell-shaped, with 4 or 5 more or less equal spread- 

 ing lobes. Stamens twice as many as the perianth lobes. Ovary sessile 

 or shortly stalked, entire, 1-2-celled. Fruit a nut, berry, or drupe. 



This order contains about 360 species, only a few of which are of garden 

 value. 



DAPHNE. — A genus of erect or trail- 

 ing shrubs with scattered, clustered, or 

 distant persistent or deciduous leaves, 

 and hermaphrodite fragrant flowers, in 

 heads or very short racemes from the 

 leaf-axUs or the ends of the branches. 

 Perianth tube cylindrical, often broader 

 at the base, with 4 spreading lobes naked 

 inside the throat. Stamens 8 in two 

 rows, enclosed by the tube or the upper 

 ones scarcely protruding. Ovary sessile 

 or nearly so ; style short or none, with a 

 large capitate stigma. Fruit a more or 

 less fleshy or leathery roundish ovoid or 

 oblong berry. 



Culture and Propagation. — The 

 Daphnes are for the most part excellent 

 spring-flowering shrubs and are suitable 

 for the shrubbery, border, or rock garden, 

 according to their natural habit of growth. 

 They flourish in sandy loam enriched 

 with decomposed manure or leaf soil, and 

 when grown in masses or groups are very 

 effective when in bloom. 



They may be increased by layering 

 the lower branches in summer. The 

 old soil may be removed to a depth of 

 2 or 3 inches, and replaced by a fine 

 sandy compost to within a couple of inches 

 of the tops of the shoots. The following 

 spring the compost should be carefully 

 removed, the layers severed, potted into 

 fine soU, and placed in cold fii'ames until 

 well established. 



Cutting's of the ripened shoots or side 

 growths will root in sandy peat in autumn 

 under handlights or cold frames kept 

 close and shaded for a time. If placed 

 in pots, they can easily be moved into a 

 warm greenhouse early in the new year, 

 and the increased temperature will stimu- 

 late the formation of roots. The young 

 plants may then be potted up singly and 



kept in the same temperature until estab- 

 lished, after which as much light and 

 air as possible shoiild be given to harden 

 them off. 



Some of the more tender Daphnes are 

 grafted on stocks of the hardier sorts, such 

 as the Mezereon, and are often forced 

 into flower a httle earlier than usual by 

 placing them in heat in early spring. 

 When seeds are ripened they may be 

 sown in sandy peat and loam in cold 

 frames or in warm sheltered borders in 

 autumn, and the seedlings may be trans- 

 planted the following spring or autumn if 

 large enough The following is a hst of 

 the best kinds for the open air. D. ind/ica 

 is grown in greenhouses, and is greatly 

 esteemed for the fragrance of its purple 

 blossoms, which appear in early spring, 



D. alpina, — A low branching shrub, 

 about 2 ft. high, native of the European 

 Alps. Leaves lance-shaped, bluntish, 

 somewhat woolly beneath. Flowers from 

 May to July, white, very fragrant, sessile, 

 in terminal clusters. 



Culture dc. as above. Suitable for the 

 rock garden in light sandy peat loam and 

 leaf soil. 



D. altaica. — A Siberian shrub 1-3 ft. 

 high, with obovate lance-shaped smooth 

 leaves of a somewhat glaucous and 

 yellowish green, especially when young. 

 Flowers in April, white, scentless, sessile, 

 about 5 in a terminal umbel. 



Culture dc. as above. Bock garden 

 or shrubbery. 



D. blagayana. — A beautiful evergreen 

 about 1 ft. high, native of the eastern 

 European mountains, and having smooth 

 alternate lance-shaped leaves. Flowers 

 in April, white, fragrant, in dense terminal 

 heads. 



