Dirca
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 Dirca palustris
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Dirca mexicana |
Dirca is a genus of three species of flowering plants in the family Thymelaeaceae, native to North America. The genus is named after Dirce in Greek mythology. The general common name of this shrub is Leatherwood; others include moosewood, ropebark and wicopy.
There are three species in the genus, all deciduous shrubs. Dirca palustris is an uncommon but widespread species that grows throughout eastern North America while D. occidentalis grows in a few counties in the San Francisco Bay area of California. The third, D. mexicana, found in northeastern Mexico, was only described for the first time in the 1990s.
Dirca palustris, which grows to a maximum height of about three meters, is found in rich woods and is occasionally cultivated. The species name, "palustris", means "of the swamps". The shrub is often hard to recognize because the flowers last such a short time and it may be mixed in with the much more frequent Spicebush which also has small yellow flowers which appear before the leaves at just about the same time in the early spring.
The branches are very pliable and have been used in the past as thongs. Some people have tied the branches of a living shrub in a knot without their breaking. Thoreau refers to it as the Indian's rope. Though listed in some poisonous plant publications, its toxicity is said to be low. The berries are said to be narcotic. [citation needed]
