Paradise plant (Daphne mezereum)

Common Names: February daphne

Description: Handling the plant is very dangerous. The berries are highly toxic and a rash or choking sensation can occur after prolonged exposure.

Habit: Erect; perennial; grows up to 5 ft tall; shrub; deciduous.

Leaves: 1-3 in long, soft, spiraling along the stem.

Stems: Upright; brown in color; woody.

Flowers: Pink to light purple in color, 4 petals, 1/3-1/2 in wide.

Fruit and seeds: Fruits are bright red, 1/4-1/2 in wide berry.

Habitat: Native to Europe, Russia, western Asia and Scandinavia. Grows well in limestone rich areas.

Reproduction: By seed.

Monitoring and rapid response: Hand-pulling for small infestations.

Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from the Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium and the USDA PLANTS Database.

Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org).Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).

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