Daphne laureola
Common name:
Spurge Laurel
Pronunciation:
DAF-ne low-REE-o-la
Family:
Thymelaeaceae
Genus:
Type:
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon:
No
- Broadleaf evergreen shrub, much branched, slow growing to about 5 ft (1.5 m) tall. Leaves alternate, simple, crowded at branch tips, about 7 cm × 2 cm, obovate or oblong, tips acute to obtuse, tapered at the base, leathery, deep glossy green above. Flowers small, pale to yellow-green, 3-8 mm long and 4 mm wide, 5-20 per cluster (raceme), sometimes fragrant, unattractive to pleasant odor. Fruit ovoid, bluish black, fleshy.
- Part sun to heavy shade.
- Hardy to USDA Zone 6 Native to western and southeastern Europe, including Briton, and North Africa. A semi-prostrate, compact form, D. laureola subsp. philippi, is also grown.
- An invasive species in some areas and is listed as a weed in the Pacific Northwest where it is a threat to certain native forest ecosystems.
- Daphne Laureola: A Greek myth of the nymph, Daphne, who escaped from a god's (Apollo's) advances by being turned into a plant (a bay laural, Laurus nobilis) but was thereafter trapped within her refuge.
- Oregon State Univ. campus: front of Reed Lodge, next to the building sign, SE corner Jefferson Way and 26th St.
Click image to enlarge
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plant habit, spring flowering
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flowering shoot
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flower cluster
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shoot tip
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fruit clusters
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leaves and fruit
