Spurge-Laurel, or Laurel Mezereon, Daphne Laure-ola, L. an indigenous shrub, found in woods and hedges, principally in the county of York, where it flowers in March and April. - The whole of this vegetable, especially the bark of the root, is very acrid : it has been employed with success in rheumatic fevers, operating powerfully as a purgative. It is likewise an excellent vermifuge ; but, as it possesses great acrimony, it ought never to be administered without medical advice, and in small doses, which should not exceed ten grains. - On account of its elegant green and yellow flow which appear in the early spring, and sometimes in the winter, this evergreen is cultivated in shrubberies ; but it deserves to be remarked that its black berries, though eagerly eaten by pheasants, prove mortal food to man, and all the mammillary animals.