Daphne laureola L.
Eng.: Spurge-laurel. Spa.: Torvisco macho, laureola. Fre.: Daphné lauréole. Ara.: Ajiji, ajji, lili wadrar, walidrar.
Evergreen shrub, hermaphrodite (rarely gynodioecious), up to 1 m in height, sometimes up to 1.5 m, upright, sparsely ramose. Stems glabrous, usually bare as the leaves appear in dense rosettes at the end of the stems. Bark of the oldest part of the stems chestnut in colour and slightly fissured; bark of younger stems and branches, greenish, glabrous. Leaves particularly large in Andalusian and North African subspecies (4-13 × 2-4 mm), from oblong-lanceolate to obovate, entire margin, obtuse or subacute apex, but usually rounded, attenuate at the base, coriaceous, bright green on the upper side, slightly lighter on the underside; usually grouped at the end of the stems. Inflorescence in dense axillary racemes, with 3-8(10) greenish-yellowish flowers, subsessile, 7-14 mm, female flowers smaller (4-6 mm). Hypanthium promptly caducous. Sepals 2-3 mm, ovate to ovate-triangular, obtuse. Stamens 8, included. Fruit a bacciform drupe, 6-10 mm, subglobose, fleshy, green at first and finally bright black. Seed ovoid, 6 × 2-4 mm.
Flowering:
February to June.
Fruiting:
May to August; flowers and mature fruits can frequently be seen at the same time.
Habitat:
Humid and cool mountain terrains, in firs, cedars and oak forests and thickets, from almost sea level to 2,500 m. In Morocco reaches its altitudinal limit at around 3,000 m. In subhumid to humid bioclimate, on mesomediterranean and supramediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Western-central Europe and Mediterranean region. In North Africa it is a common species in the more humid areas of the Rif Mountains, Middle Atlas and High Atlas (Morocco and Algeria). In the Tellian Atlas it is only known in the humid and cool forests of Kabylia, frequent amongst cedar forests.
Observations:
Polymorphic species from which some infraspecific taxa have differentiated (some of these without enough characters to be considered subspecies). Among them, one of the most common forms is subsp. latifolia (Coss.) Rivas Mart., from Andalusia, N of Morocco and N of Algeria, differentiated mainly by the size of its leaves.
Conservation status:
Locally abundant species but with a small distribution. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
