Very early in the Spring--February to April--we may often see the Spurge Laurel (_Daphne Laureola_) in flower in woods and copses. This is an erect, smooth shrub, from two to four feet high, with a few erect branches bearing at their summits crowded clusters of thick, glossy, narrow, evergreen leaves. Its flowers, of a yellowish green colour, are in drooping, axillary clusters among the leaves. They have a tubular, inferior perianth, with four spreading lobes; eight stamens inserted in the top of the tube; and a free ovary of one cell, containing a single ovule. The perianth falls early; and the ovary afterwards becomes a berry-like fruit with a single stone. [Illustration: THE SPURGE LAUREL.] Another similar shrub, known as the Mezereon (_Daphne Mezereum_), is found in similar situations, and flowers at the same time, but it may be known by its deciduous leaves, and by its pale red flowers arranged in threes on the side of the stem. These two species are the only British representatives of the order _Thymelaceæ_. Two species of Elm are common in our woods and hedgerows. The small-leaved or Common Elm (_Ulmus campestris_), and the Wych Elm (_U. montana_). Both are distinguished by their thick, furrowed, corky bark; and their rough oval-cordate leaves with unequal sides. They are often placed in the same order (_Urticaceæ_) as the well-known Stinging Nettles, but some authorities form a distinct order for these two species alone, under the name of _Ulmaceæ_. The Common Elm is not indigenous, but was introduced into our country by the Romans. It is, however, one of our commonest trees, and is especially abundant in the South. The midrib of the leaf is covered below with irritating, glandular hairs, somewhat resembling those of nettles in structure and function; and the stipules are deciduous, falling early in the season. The flowers are perfect, appearing before the leaves in March and April, and are in small, dense clusters, principally on the topmost branches. Each flower has a little, bell-shaped, persistent perianth; a superior ovary with two styles; and four or five stamens with black anthers. The fruits are very thin oval samaras with the seeds above the centre, but they seldom ripen in our country. They are produced in such abundance that the ground is often almost completely covered with them when they fall. Botanists recognise several varieties of this species, but these differ so slightly from one another that they are barely distinguishable. The Common Elm throws off a large number of suckers from its roots, often producing a dense undergrowth round its bole. [Illustration: THE ELM IN FLOWER.]