Irish wildflowers BSBI map

Spurge-laurel, Daphne laureola
Photographs: Co. Waterford

Spurge-laurel
Daphne laureola
Family: Thymelaeaceae

Flowering February - April. Evergreen shrub. Introduced.

Scented small greenish-yellow flowers followed by black berries which are poisonous to humans but a food source for birds. Seed-set is often poor but also reproduces by self-layering. Evergreen leaves. Height to 1m. All parts of the plant are toxic and the sap can cause dermatitis.

A garden escape or relic of cultivation in shady deciduous woodland on heavy neutral or calcareous soils. Also found in hedgerows and on walls and rocky ground. Scattered distribution, mainly recorded from the north and south-east of Ireland.

Spurge-laurel, Daphne laureola
Spurge-laurel, Daphne laureola

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