Contraction. - Mez.

Daphne mezereum. Nat ord., Thymeliaceae.

Synonyms. - Chamaelia Gerrnanica, Daphnoides, Thy-melssa.

Fig. - Flora Horn., pl. 42.

Common Mezereon, Spurge Olive. For. names: German, Scidelbast, Kellerhalls; French, Laureole Gentile; Italian, Laureola femina, Biondella; Spanish, Laureola hembra.

Habitat. - In hilly woods over nearly the whole of Europe and Russian Asia.

Flowering time. - February and March.

Part employed. - The bark.

Characters. - A smooth, erect shrub, 2 to 4 feet high, with erect branches, each terminated by a tuft of narrow-oblong, or lanceolate, deciduous leaves, about 2 or 3 inches long. Before these leaves are fully out in spring the purple, sweet-scented flowers appear in clusters of 2 or 3 along the preceding year's shoots. It is thus distinguished from the evergreen Daphne Laureola, with axillary, scentless, green flowers, frequently supplied in its stead by herbalists.

Time for collecting. - Before flowering.

Preparation. - Tincture, corresponding in alcoholic strength with proof spirit.

Reference to Horn. Proving. - Chr. Kr., iv.

Proper forms for dispensing. - φ and lx, Tincture only.

1 and upwards, Tincture, Pilules, or Globules.