Vasilis Teodoridis:
Thymelaeaceae | Daphne
24. Daphne odora Thunberg in Murray; Syst. Veg.; ed. 14. 372. 1784.
?? rui xiang
Daphne chinensis Sprengel; D. hybrida Lindley; D. japonica Thunberg (1792); not Siebold & Zuccarini (1846); D. kiusiana Miquel var. odora (Thunberg) Makino; D. mazelii Carri?re; D. odora f. alba (Hemsley) H. Hara; D. odora var. alba Hemsley; D. odora var. leucantha Makino; D. odora f. marginata Makino; D. odora var. marginata Miquel; D. odora var. mazelii (Carri?re) Hemsley; D. odora f. rosacea (Makino) H. Hara; D. odora var. rosacea Makino; D. odora var. variegata Bean; D. sinensis Lamarck; D. speciosissima Carri?re; D. triflora Loureiro.
Shrubs evergreen; to 1.5 m tall. Branches purplish red to purplish brown; stout; glabrous. Leaves alternate; petiole 4-5 mm; glabrous or sparsely puberulous; leaf blade obovate or obovate-elliptic; 6-13 x 2.5-5 cm; leathery; both surfaces glabrous; base cuneate; apex subacute; often apiculate; veins 7-13 pairs. Inflorescences terminal; capitate; up to 12(-20)-flowered; bracts lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate; 5-12 x 2-4 mm; glabrous. Flowers fragrant. Calyx purplish red abaxially with pinkish red to white lobes; tube 6-10 mm; exterior glabrous; lobes 4; ovate or ovate-lanceolate; 6-12 mm; base auriculate; apex obtuse. Stamens 8; lower whorl inserted just above middle of calyx tube; upper whorl in throat; filaments ca. 0.7 mm; anthers oblong; ca. 2 mm; upper ones 1/2 exserted from calyx tube. Disk annular; very narrow. Ovary oblong; glabrous; style short; stigma capitate. Drupe scarlet-red; globose; ca. 8 mm. Fl. Mar-May; fr. Jul-Aug.
Widely cultivated in China [native origin obscure; probably China or Japan but now widely cultivated].