59$ DAP 
unity of the branches are produced the peduncles, which 
are unequal in length, and divide into feveral fmaller, 
each fuftaining a cinder of fmall white flowers, which 
are collected into a head or fmall umbel, having one ge¬ 
neral involucre ; they are male and hermaphrodite on 
different trees. The latter are fucceeded by oval berries, 
not quite fo large as thofe of the common bay. The 
leaves of this tree are about two inches long, and one 
inch broad, rounded at the top and entire, on very fhort 
foot-ftalks. It was difcovered at Vera Cruz by Dr. 
Houftcun, and is alfo a native of Jamaica. It was cul¬ 
tivated by Mr. Miller before 1733. 
25. Daphne occidentalis, or weftern mezereon : pe¬ 
duncles axillary; flowers terminating, in umbellets, 
dioecous ; leaves alternate, lanceolate, fmooth. Native 
of Jamaica. The place of this and the foregoing is be¬ 
tween the eleventh and twelfth fpecies. 
26. Daphne vermiculata, or branching mezereon: 
■flowers feflile, lateral, folitary, fmooth; leaves linear- 
lanceolate, villofe. This is an humble, ftiflf, and very 
branching, fhrub. Gathered by Vahl in the kingdom of 
Arragon. Its proper place is between the third and 
fourth fpecies. 
27. Daphne fericea, or filky mezereon : flowers aggre¬ 
gate, terminating, feflile; leaves lanceolate, villofe un¬ 
derneath ; fegments of the corolla obtufe. This is a 
very branching fhrub. Flowers purple, five. Native 
of Candia and Naples. The proper place of this and 
tlie next is between the fourteenth and fifteenth fpecies. 
28. Daphnebuxifolia, orbox-leaved mezereon : flowers 
aggregate, feflile, terminating ; leaves oblong, very blunt, 
villofe, underneath. This has fix flowers. It differs 
from the foregoing in the form of the leaves, and the 
whitenefs of the corolla. Native of the Levant. 
29. Daphne gouvernante, or California mezereon. 
Gouvernante is the Spanifli name of a plant which the 
Indians of Califormia ufe in decodfion as a fudorific 
drink for the cure of the venereal difeafe. It is thus 
deferibed in the third volume (Englifh tranflation) of 
Peyroufe’s Voyage round the World : Calyx quadrifid, 
egg-fliaped, of the fame fize with the corolla ; placed 
beneath the fruit, deciduous. Corolla polypetalous; 
petals four, fmall, entire, egg-fhaped, fixed upon the re¬ 
ceptacle. Stamina, eight, fixed to the receptacle, of 
the fame length as the corolla; threads channelled, con¬ 
cave on the one fide, and convex on the other ; wings 
veiled, antherae fimple. Piftil, germ oblong, covered, 
with five angles, and five cells ; feeds oblong; pericar- 
pium covered with fine hairs. This plant is a fhrub of 
middle fize; the branches are angular and knotty, and 
covered with an adhelive varnifh ; the lateral branches 
are alternate, and placed very near to each other ; the 
leaves are fmall, petiolated, bilobed, oppofite, fmooth 
on the upper fide, the under fide indiflinftly veined; 
the bloflbms are axillary, fometimes terminating, pedun¬ 
culated, folitary, but fometimes in pairs. From this de- 
feription, the gouvernante appears to be a new fpecies of 
daphne. Ency. Brit. Suppl. 
Propagation and. Culture. Mezereon is propagated by 
feeds, which fliould be fown on a border expol'ed to the 
eaft, foon after the berries are ripe ; for, if not fown till 
the fpring following, they often mifearry, and always 
remain a year in the ground before the plants appear ; 
whereas thofe which are fown in Augutt will grow the 
following fpring, fo that a year is faved, and thefe never 
fail. When the plants come up, they will require no 
other care but to keep them clean from weeds, and if 
the plants are not too clofe together, they may continue 
in the feed-bed, to have the growth of two fummers, 
efpecially if they do not make great progrels the firfl 
year; then at Michaelmas, when the leaves are’died ding, 
they fhould be carefully taken up fo as not to break or 
tear their roots, .and planted into a nurfery at about fix- 
teen inches row from row, and eight or nine incites 
afunder in the rows ; in this nurfi^y they may remain 
DAP 
two years, by which time they will be fit to remove to 
the places where they are deligned to remain for good i 
the bed feafon to tranfplant thefe trees is in autumn, for 
as thefe plants begin to vegetate very early in the fpring, 
it is not proper to tranfplant them at that feafon. Thefe 
plants grow bed in a light fandy earth which is dry, for 
in cold wet land they become mofly, and make little 
progrefs ; fo that upon fuch foils they never grow to any 
fize, and produce few flowers. Although the berries 
of this tree are fo very acrid as to burn the mouth and 
throat of thofe who may incautioufly tade them, yet the 
birds greedily devour them, as foon as they begin to 
ripen : fo that, unlefs the fhvubs are covered with nets 
to preferve the berries, they will all be dedroyed before 
they are fit to gather. Mezereon is a very ornamental 
flirub in gardens, very early in the fpring, before others 
flower : and where there are plenty of them growing to¬ 
gether, they perfume the air to a confiderable didance. 
Spurge-laurel may alfo be propagated by feeds, layers, 
or cuttings. The plants may be ealily obtained from 
the woods. 
The 2d, 5th, and 12th, forts are hardy, and will live 
through tlie winters in England in the open air, provided 
they are in a dry foil and a warm fituation. The 6th 
and 11 tli forts are as hardy as the common mezereon, fo 
are not in danger of being hurt by frod in England; but 
they are all very difficult to keep in gardens, becaufe 
they will not bear to be tranfplanted. Therefore thofe 
who are defirous to have thefe plants in their gardens, 
mud procure their feeds front the countries where they 
naturally grow ; and, when they arrive, they fliould be 
immediately fown where they are defigned to remain, 
which for the 2d, 5th, and 12th, forts, fliould be on a 
very warm dry border, where, if there is a foundation of 
lime, rubbilh, or chalk, under the upper furface of the 
ground, the plants will thrive better and continue much 
longer, than in better ground; and all the culture they 
require, is to keep the place clean from weeds, for the 
lefs the ground is dirred near the roots, the better the 
plants will thrive; for they naturally grow on poor fhal- 
low land; and out of crevices in rocks ; fo the nearer the 
foil approaches to this, the more likely the plants will be 
to fucceed. The 6th and 1 ith forts may have a cooler 
fituation ; if thefe are fown where they may have only 
the morning fun, they will thrive better than in a warmer 
fituation, and the ground near the roots of thefe fliould 
not be diflurbed ; therefore, in the choice of the fitua¬ 
tion, there fliould be regard had to this, not to fow them 
near other plants, which may require tranfplanting, or 
to have the ground dug and loofened. The feeds of thefe 
plants coming from diflant countries, rarely arrive her® 
time enough to fow in autumn, fo that when they are 
fown in the fpring, the plants do not appear till the fuc- 
ceeding fpring; and fometimes the feeds remain till the 
fecond fpring in the ground, before the plants appear; 
but, as this may be too long for many people to leave 
the ground undidurbed, they had better put the feeds 
into fmall pots of earth, and bury them in the ground 
the firlt dimmer, and in autumn take them up, and fow 
them where they are to dand; by this method, the 1'eeds 
will be forwarded to vegetate the following fpring. The 
6th fort is a beautiful fweet flirub, and deferves a place 
in gardens, as much as any of thole we cultivate for or¬ 
nament. The 13th fort grows naturally%it the Cape of 
Good Hope, and requires a good green-houfe to preferve 
it. This plant is very difficult to keep or propagate in 
gardens. The 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th, alfo require 
the protection of a green-houfe. The 18th, 23d, 24th, 
and 25th, are dove plants, and mud'be managed in the 
fame manner with coffee. See Strumpfia. 
D APHNEPHA'GI,yi [ 'ji'xpvi Gr. a laurel berry, and 
tpaya, to eat. ] The enth’uliads of antiquity who pretend¬ 
ed to be infpired after eating bay leaves. Scott. 
DAPHNEPHO'RI A,y. A’fedival in honour of Apol¬ 
lo,.celebrated every ninth year by the Boeotians. It was 
thea 
