80 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



cold wet land it becomes mossy, and neither 

 makes much progress, nor produces ixiany 

 flowers. 



The mezereon seldom exceeds from three 

 to four feet in height, and therefore it should 

 be placed in the foreground of taller shrubs, 

 for when set in the middle of the plantation 

 it is sooner obscured by faster and taller 

 growing shrubs. 



The Neapolitan mezereon, Daphne Collina, 

 is an evergreen that covers the hills and fields 

 on the banks of the Vulturnus, in Italy, as 

 the furze does our commons in England, 

 and it is now found to endure the winters of 

 our climate nearly as well as the common 

 mezereon. It was first cultivated in this coun- 

 try in 1752 ; but as an ornament to the shrub- 

 bery we prefer the deciduous kind, as the 

 flowers of the Neapolitan mezereon are partly 

 obscured by the leaves. 



This genus of plants is supposed to be the 

 Aoc<pv7] of Theophrastus and Dioscorides ; but 

 as there is some doubt of this from the brief 

 remarks they have made on the plant under 

 that name, we shall confine ourselves to the 

 discoveries which modern physicians have 

 made of the virtues of the mezereon, the most 

 important of which was found out by Dr. 

 Russel, whilst physician to St. Thomas's 



