Daphne gnidium L.
Eng.: Flax-leaved daphne. Spa.: Torvisco, matapollos. Fre.: Garou, daphné garou. Ara.: Lazzaz, azzaz, djuzet er raïne, methnan, matnan, garu. Tam.: Sebbarh, init, inif.
Evergreen shrub, hermaphrodite, up to 1.5-2 m in height, upright, highly branched, with long, flexible branches. Unlike the previous species, it has villous stems and branches, with numerous leaves along most of the length of the stems and branches. Bark at the base of the stems greyish-brown, slightly fissured, and in the younger parts green to reddish-brown. Hairs on stems and branches short, whitish and appressed. Leaves (15-50 × 2,5-7 mm), densely distributed along the stems, especially on the upper half, linear to oblong-lanceolate, acute, attenuate at the base, subcoriaceous, glabrous, green, matt on the upper side and slightly lighter and punctate on the underside. Bracts usually absent, but glabrous when present. Inflorescence in terminal panicle of 10-60 flowers. Flower 5-6.5 mm long, subsessile. Hypanthium promptly caducous, greenish-whitish, with appressed dense hairs. Sepals 1.5-2.5 mm, ovate, white or whitish-yellowish. Stamens 8, included. Fruit a bacciform drupe, 7-8 × 6-7 mm, subglobose, fleshy, green at first and bright red when ripe. Seed 1, ovoid (4-5 × 2-3 mm).
Flowering:
May to September.
Fruiting:
July to November.
Habitat:
On all types of terrain, in semiarid to subhumid environment. Plains and mountains from sea level up to 2,500 m. In semiarid to subhumid bioclimate, on thermomediterranean to supramediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region and Canary Islands. In North Africa it is a common species in the Mediterranean region from Morocco to Tunisia.
Observations:
In North Africa this subshrub presents 2 subspecies: subsp. gnidium (described above) with villous branches, usually without bracts or with glabrous bracts if present; with panicles that, before fruiting, are shorter than the upper leaves, and caducous perianth; and subsp. mauritanica (Nieto Fel.) Halda, which differs mainly by its glabrous branches, except those of the inflorescence, bracts generally pubescent, and panicles that, before fruiting, are longer than the upper leaves; persistent perianth at fruiting; it grows N of Morocco and Algeria, from peneplains of the Gharb to the Beni Snassen Mts. and the Tellian Atlas.
Conservation status:
D. gnidium is a common and widespread species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.