Mezereon, paradise-plant Mezereon, paradise-plant

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.

Flowering summer (Jun–Aug). Cool, damp woods, especially on limestone; 0–300 m; introduced; B.C., N.B., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que.; Alaska, Conn., Maine, Mass., Mich., Mont., N.H., N.Y., Ohio, R.I., Vt.; Europe; w, c Asia.

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