Common Name: DAPHNE FAMILY
Habit: Shrub [herb, tree, vine], often ill-smelling, poisonous. Stem: erect, flexible, branched, generally with raised, woody leaf scars; bark fibrous, tear-resistant, often green and/or +- white, at least in patches, especially when young. Leaf: simple, alternate [opposite, +- whorled], pinnately veined, entire, petioled; stipules +- 0. Inflorescence: axillary cluster [umbel, spike, raceme, or flowers 1]. Flower: bisexual [not], [3]4[6]-parted; hypanthium tubular or funnel- to bell-shaped, corolla-like; calyx lobes overlapped or not, or +- 0; petals small, alternate sepals; stamens [2,4]8[many]; disk generally present; ovary superior [1/2-inferior], 1-chambered, 1-ovuled, style 1, stigma dot-like. Fruit: berry [capsule]. Seed: 1.
Genera In Family: +- 50 genera, 750 species: worldwide, especially Australia, tropical Africa; some cultivated (Daphne, Edgeworthia), weedy (Thymelaea).
eFlora Treatment Author: Lorin I. Nevling, Jr. & Kerry Barringer
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.