Mezereon

Scientific Names

Daphne mezereum L.
Thymelaeaceae
Mezereum family

Common Names

Daphne
Spurge flax
Spurge laurel
Spurge olive
Wild pepper
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Mezereon is a small, European and Asian shrub; the stems have tough, leathery, gray-brown bark and bear alternate, smooth, lanceolate leaves. The rose-purple fragrant flowers appear on the branches in lateral clusters from February to April, before the leaves appear. The fruit is a red berry.
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Where Found

Has escaped from cultivation to grow wild in thickets and open woods in the northeastern states of the United States and eastern Canada.
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Medicinal Properties

Cathartic, diuretic, emetic, rubefacient, stimulant
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Uses

Once used as a purgative but little used today. Homeopathists still use medications made from the bark for skin problems and for respiratory and digestive ailments. Can be used for erysipelas and shingles.
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Warning

The entire plant is poisonous, and 3 or 4 berries can kill a person. People have even been poisoned by eating birds that had eaten the berries.

Never use without medical supervision under any circumstances.
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Bibliography

The Nature Doctor, by Dr. H.C.A. Vogel; Keats Publishing, Inc., 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991

Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984

The Rodale Herb Book, edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974