NAT. ORDEB, . 
Thymelacece. 
DAPHNE MEZEREUM. MEZEREON. 
Class VIII. OcTANDRiA. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. Calyx, none. Corolla, four-cleft, withering, enclosing 
the stamens. Drupe, one-seeded. 
Spe. Char. Floivers, sessile, in threes on the stem. Leaves, lance- 
olate, deciduous. 
The Mezereon is a hardy shruh, which usually grows to the 
height of five or six feet, and sends off several branches ; the ex- 
terior hark is smooth, and of a gray color ; the root is of a fibrous 
texture, of a pale color, and covered with smooth olive-colored 
bark ; the leaves are few, tender, lance-shaped, sessile, deciduous, 
and appear at the terminations of the branches, after the flowers 
have expanded ; the Jlowers surround the branches in thick clus- 
ters ; they are sessile, monopetalous, tubular, having the limb di- 
vided into four oval, spreading segments, generally of a purple 
color ; the stamens are eight, alternately shorter, and concealed 
within the tube of the corolla ; the style is very short, the stigma 
flat, and the germen, which is oval, becomes a reddish berry, con- 
taining a round seed. 
This shrub is a native of England, though not very common. 
We are informed that it grows wild in the woods near Andover 
in Hampshire, and also about Loxfield in SuflTolk ; but it is gene- 
rally cultivated in gardens, on account of the beauty and earliness 
of its flowers, which appear in February and March. 
This plant is extremely acrid, especially when fresh ; and if 
Vol. ii.— 95 
