Flora of North America species comparison

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Daphne mezereum

February daphne, mezereon, paradise-plant
Habit Shrubs to 1 m; branches glabrescent.
Leaves

deciduous, sessile;

blade oblong to lanceolate, 3–8 × 1–2.5 cm, membranous, adaxial surface matte.
Inflorescences

2–4-flowered.
Flowers

fragrant, sessile, appearing before leaves, clustered in axils of previous year’s growth;

hypanthium pink, red, or white, tubular, 5–8 mm, sericeous;

calyx lobes ovate or obtuse to rounded, 3–5 mm.
Drupes

red or yellow.
2n

= 18.

Daphne mezereum
Phenology Flowering summer (Jun–Aug).
Habitat Cool, damp woods, especially on limestone
Elevation 0–300 m (0–1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CT; MA; ME; MI; MT; NH; NY; OH; RI; VT; BC; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; Europe; w Asia; c Asia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Daphne mezereum was used in the herbal pharmacopoeia as a purgative. It contains daphnin and is highly poisonous.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 385.
Parent taxa Thymelaeaceae > Daphne
Sibling taxa
D. laureola
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 356. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

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