{{Short description|Species of shrub}} {{Speciesbox |image = DAPHNE CNEORUM - BÒFIA - IB-407 (Flor de pastor).JPG |image_caption = In flower in the Catalan Pyrenees, at 2,300 m altitude |taxon = Daphne cneorum |authority = L.<ref name="POWO"/> |synonyms = {{Species list |Daphne bellojocensis|Gand. |Daphne delphini|Lavallée |Daphne juliae|Koso-Pol. |Daphne odorata|Lam. |Daphne prostrata|Salisb. |Daphne rhodanica|Gand. |Daphne verlotii|Gren. & Godr. |Laureola cneorum|(L.) Samp. |Thymelaea cneorum|(L.) Scop. |Thymelaea odorata|Bubani }} |synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO">{{cite web | title=''Daphne cneorum'' L. | website=Plants of the World Online | url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:831193-1 | access-date=2025-08-22}}</ref> }}
'''''Daphne cneorum''''', the '''rose daphne''' or '''garland flower''', is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae, native across the mountains of central and southern Europe from the Pyrenees east through the Alps, the Apennine, Carpathian and the Balkan Peninsula mountains, and locally in lowlands further north and east to Ukraine and westernmost Russia.<ref name="POWO" /><ref name="Huxley">{{cite book |last1=Huxley |first1=Anthony |author1-link=Anthony Huxley |title=Mountain Flowers |date=1967 |publisher=Blandford Press |location=London |page=290}}</ref><ref name="Melnik">{{Cite journal |last=Melnik |first=Victor |date=1996 |title=Distribution and plant communities of ''Daphne cneorum'' and ''Daphne sophia'' in Ukraine |url=https://www.upjs.sk/public/media/5554/thaiszia-6-49-66-1996-melnik.pdf |journal=Thaiszia Journal of Botany |volume=6 |pages=49–66 |via=Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Šafárika V Košiciach}}</ref> It is a prostrate spreading evergreen shrub growing to {{convert|50|cm|0|abbr=on}} high, with downy stems bearing oblanceolate to spatulate, hairless, evergreen leaves 10–20 mm long and 3–5 mm wide, and highly fragrant pink flowers in dense clusters of 6–8 together in spring.<ref name="Huxley"/><ref>{{cite book |title=RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants |year=2008 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-1405332965 |pages=1136}}</ref> All parts of the plant are poisonous to humans.<ref name = RHSPF>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/31124/i-Daphne-cneorum-i/Details |title=''Daphne cneorum'' |publisher=RHS |access-date=7 May 2019}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== Two subspecies are accepted by the Plants of the World Online database;<ref name="POWO"/> the Euro+Med Plantbase also accepts a third subspecies.<ref name="Euro+Med">{{cite web | last=Pedrol | first=J. | title=''Daphne cneorum'' | website=Euro+Med-Plantbase | url=https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/a957229f-061f-40d5-a7ce-5e95023f9aa0 | access-date=2025-08-22}}</ref> *''Daphne cneorum'' subsp. ''cneorum'' — throughout the species range *''Daphne cneorum'' subsp. ''arbusculoides'' <small>(Tuzson) Soó</small> — Austria, Hungary, and the northwestern Balkan Peninsula *''Daphne cneorum'' subsp. ''julia'' <small>(Koso-Pol.) Halda</small> — western Russia (included in subsp. ''cneorum'' by POWO<ref name="POWO"/>)
==Etymology== [[File:Вовче лико пахуче (боровик) у Михайлівському лісі 2.jpg|thumb|left|In bud, southeast of Kyiv, Ukraine, at 100 m altitude]] The Latin specific epithet ''cneorum'' comes from Greek {{lang|el|κνέορουμ}} "kneorum" and means 'like a small olive bush'.<ref name=RHSLG>{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Lorraine |title=RHS Latin for Gardeners |year=2012 |publisher=Mitchell Beazley |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-1845337315}}</ref>
== Habitat == In the mountains of central and western Europe, ''Daphne cneorum'' occurs in meadows and stony ground on limestone in mountains at altitudes up to 2150 m altitude or more.<ref name="Huxley"/> Further north and east, with colder climates, it occurs at lower altitudes, often on sandy soil; in northeastern France in the Pays de Bitche in the Vosges at 250–300 m altitude (where its survival depends on protection from commercial forestry intensification by land use as a military training ground);<ref name="Muller">{{Cite journal |last=Muller |first=Serge |date=March 1977 |title=The post-glacial history of ''Pulsatilla vernalis'' and ''Daphne cneorum'' in Bitcherland, inferred from the phytosociological study of their current habitat |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2997569 |journal=Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=129–137 |JSTOR=2997569}}</ref> and in Ukraine, in the Lviv and Rivne areas and in the Dnipro valley in the Kyiv area where altitudes are around 100–200 m, typically in open pine, and mixed pine-oak and pine-beech forest habitats.<ref name="Melnik"/> Other species found in these habitats include ''Vaccinium myrtillus'', ''Lycopodium annotinum'', ''Pteridium aquilinum'', ''Maianthemum bifolium'' and ''Trientalis europaea''.<ref name="Melnik"/> ''Daphne cneorum'' is typically found in well-lit patches of rocky soil, the foundation of which is generally carbonate rock.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dakskobler |first=Igor |last2=Seliškar |first2=Andrej |last3=Vreš |first3=Branko |date=2011 |title=''Daphne alpina'' L. subsp. ''scopoliana'' Urbani × ''Daphne cneorum'' L. subsp. ''cneorum'' = ''Daphne'' × ''savensis'' nothosp. nov., a new spontaneous hybrid in the genus ''Daphne'' L. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273259133_Daphne_alpina_L_subsp_scopoliana_Urbani_Daphne_cneorum_L_subsp_cneorum_Daphne_savensis_nothosp_nov_a_new_spontaneous_hybrid_in_the_genus_Daphne_L |journal=Wulfenia |volume=18 |pages=1–14 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref><ref name="Melnik" />
In the Boreal age, ''Daphne cneorum'' was predominantly found in pine forests, alongside other species such as ''Galium boreale'' and ''Rubus saxatilis''.<ref name="Muller" /><ref name="Melnik"/>
==Cultivation== ''Daphne cneorum'' is popular for growing in alpine and rock gardens for its attractive, sweetly scented flowers; it requires moist, but well-drained soil.<ref>{{cite web | title=14 dwarf shrubs for the alpine garden | website=Alpine Garden Society | date=2021-08-11 | url=https://www.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/14-dwarf-shrubs-for-the-alpine-garden | access-date=2025-08-22}}</ref>
=== Diseases === In cultivation, rose daphnes can be affected by various diseases. Two common diseases are 'daphne sudden death syndrome' (DSDS) caused by the fungus ''Thielaviopsis basicola'',<ref name="Noshad2007">{{Cite journal |last=Noshad |first=David |last2=Riseman |first2=Andrew |last3=Punja |first3=Zamir |date=2007 |title=Evaluation of ''Daphne'' Germplasm for Resistance to Daphne Sudden Death Syndrome Caused by the Soil-borne Pathogen Thielaviopsis basicola |url=https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/42/7/article-p1639.xml |journal=American Society for Horticultural Science |volume=42 |issue=7 |pages=1639-1643 |via=American Society for Horticultural Science}}</ref><ref name="Noshad2006">{{cite journal |last1=Noshad |first1=D. |last2=Riseman |first2=A. |last3=Punja |first3=Z. K. |title=First report of ''Thielaviopsis basicol'' a on ''Daphne cneorum'' |journal=Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology |date=June 2006 |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=310–312 |issn=0706-0661 |eissn=1715-2992 |doi=10.1080/07060660609507300 |pmid= |url=}}</ref> and daphne virus X.<ref name="Wei">{{Cite journal |last=Wei |first=C |last2=Green |first2=M.J. |last3=Godkin |first3=S.E. |last4=Monette |first4=P.L. |date=1 September 1992 |title=Use of in vitro Cultures of ''Daphne cneorum'' L. for the Western Detection of Daphne Virus X. |url=https://meridian.allenpress.com/jeh/article/10/3/153/79216/Use-of-in-vitro-Cultures-of-Daphne-cneorum-L-for |journal=Journal of Environmental Horticulture |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=153-156 |via=Horticultural Research Institute}}</ref>
In daphne sudden death syndrome, dark lesions grow along the roots, soon followed by browning of the leaves, stunted growth, wilting, and then in the two weeks after developing leaf symptoms, death.<ref name="Noshad2006"/><ref name="Noshad2007"/>
One of the more common viruses affecting ''Daphne cneorum'', and other species of the genus ''Daphne'', is daphne virus X.<ref name="Wei"/> It was discovered that in-vitro ''Daphne cneorum'' cultures can be used as a growing medium to detect if other plants are infected with the disease.<ref name="Wei"/> This allows for faster identification of diseased plants, thus allowing for prevention of the spread to other plants within nurseries, gardens, etc.<ref name="Wei" />
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Commons category}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q158141}} {{Authority control}}
cneorum Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Thymelaeaceae-stub}}