Daphne × napolitana Lodd.

In the main work the epithet for this daphne was printed as ‘neapolitana’, which is the correct form for ‘of Naples’, but in fact Loddiges spelt it ‘napolitana’, and it is considered by Brickell and Mathew that this should be allowed to stand.

The most likely provenance of the plant named by Loddiges is the botanical garden at Caserta near Naples. If D. cneorum really enters into the parentage of this daphne, the cross must have taken place in the garden, since D. cneorum does not grow in the Italian peninsula. If, however, the parentage is D. sericea (collina) crossed with D. oleoides, the seed might have come originally from the vicinity of Naples, since both species occur in southern Italy, D. sericea on hills near the coast, D. oleoides in the mountains farther inland, and possibly come into contact. However, as pointed out on page 15, Keissler agreed with Lindley that D. napolitana was not more than varietally distinct from D. collina. If, then, D. collina is to be sunk in D. sericea, D. napolitana would go with it.