Definition of Daphne (plant)

Daphne is a genus of between 50-95 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs in the plant family Thymelaeaceae, native to Asia, Europe, and north Africa. They are noted for their scented flowers and poisonous berries. The flowers lack petals and have four (rarely five) petaloid sepals, ranging from greenish-yellow to white and bright pink; most of the evergreen species tend to have greenish flowers, while the deciduous species tend to have pink flowers. In many species, flowering is in late winter or very early spring.