Daphne laureola L.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Daphne laureola' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/daphne/daphne-laureola/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

An evergreen shrub of bushy habit 2 to 4 ft high, devoid of down in all its parts. Leaves oblanceolate, tapered gradually to the base, more abruptly to the point; from 112 to 412 in. long, 12 to 112 in. wide, dark lustrous green, and of thick, firm texture. Flowers yellowish green, fragrant at times, opening in February and March; they are borne in clusters of three to eight blossoms, each cluster on a common stalk about 12 in. long, springing from the axils of the uppermost leaves of the preceding year’s growth. Flowers 13 in. long, 14 in. diameter. Fruit ovoid, bluish black when ripe, poisonous.

Native of S. and W. Europe, including England, and of N. Africa and the Azores. It prefers a moist soil and semi-shade, and is useful in woodland, chiefly for its shining evergreen foliage, for the flowers are only intermittently fragrant and have no bright colour to recommend them. D. pontica differs in having larger, mostly twin flowers produced at the base of the new shoots six or eight weeks later, and thinner leaves.


var. philippi (Gren. & Godr.) Meissn.

Synonyms
D. philippi Gren. & Godr

A dwarf, densely bushy shrub with sturdy, short shoots. Leaves closer and more densely arranged on the shoot than in the type; obovate, {3/4} to 2 in. long, {1/3} to {3/4} in. wide, dark glossy green. Flowers smaller than in the type, fragrant. Native of the Pyrenees.