This shrub is near the foot of the steps which lead up to the Chinese and Japanese Section.

Purchased from Goscote Nurseries, Syston Road, Cossington, Leicester in October 2009. 

‘Aureomarginata’ (Golden Margined) the cultivar is a chimera of Daphne odora with a ‘gold’ outer layer (epidermis). It is hardier and more suitable for cultivation than the plain-leaved forms.

Daphne odora, winter daphne, is a native to China, later spread to Japan and Korea. It is an evergreen shrub, grown for its very fragrant, fleshy, pale-pink, tubular flowers, each with four spreading lobes, and for its glossy foliage It rarely fruits, producing red berries after flowering.

The Latin odora means “fragrant”. In Korea, the plant is poetically called “chullihyang” – a thousand-mile scent – referring to the delightful fragrance of the flowers. In Japan, the plant is more commonly known as “jinchōge”.

All parts of the plant are poisonous to humans and to a range of domestic animals. Some people experience dermatitis from contact with the sap.