Daphne L.

Genus composed of about 92 species of Palaearctic distribution. In North Africa it is represented by 4 species of small shrubs or subshrubs with a Mediterranean distribution. Two of them are creeping subshrubs:

D. oleoides Schreb. [D. oleides Schreb. subsp. atlantica (Maire) Rivas Mart., Molero Mesa, Marfíl & G. Benítez], is a tortuous subshrub, highly branched, often prostrate, rarely exceeding 0.5 m in height, with very small leaves, coriaceous and glabrous; inflorescences in capituliform terminal fascicles of 3-7 flowers (9-13 mm long) and red or orange fruits; it is distributed along southern Europe and major Mediterranean islands. In North Africa, it is found in very localized areas in at least two parts of the High Atlas Mountains (Morocco): in the Jbel Ukaimeden and near the Tizi-n Aït Hamed pass. It also appears in some limestone rocky outcrops of the mountains of Kabylia and Aures Massif (Algeria).

D. jasminea Sibth. & Sm. subsp. jarmilae Halda, a creeping subshrub, with tortuous stems and small mucronate coriaceous leaves, with characteristic purple flowers (rarely whitish or yellowish) solitary or in pairs; it is a rare endemic species that only grows in NE Libya (Jebel Akhdar), while the type species is from Greece.

D. oleoides is rarer and D. jasminea is much rarer and with a small distribution. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.