''Daphne papyracea'' is a shrub, of the family Thymelaeaceae. It is evergreen, and is found across Asia, from Pakistan through central Nepal to China. Generally it is found at elevations from . ''Daphne laciniata'' from Yunnan has been treated as a separate species or as part of ''D. papyracea''.

Description

The shrub grows to be up to tall.

Subspecies and varieties

The Plant List The Plant List was a list of botanical names of species of plants created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden and launched in 2010. It was intended to be a comprehensive record of all known names of plant species ...

accepts the following infrataxa: *''Daphne papyracea'' subsp. ''jinyunensis'' (C.Yung Chang) Halda (syn. ''Daphne jinyunensis'' C.Yung Chang) *''Daphne papyracea'' subsp. ''yunnanensis'' (H.F.Zhou ex C.Yung Chang) Halda (syn. ''Daphne yunnanensis'' H.F.Zhou ex C.Yung Chang) *''Daphne papyracea'' var. ''longituba'' (C.Yung Chang) Halda (syn. ''Daphne longituba'' C.Yung Chang) *''Daphne papyracea'' var. ''xichouensis'' (H.F.Zhou ex C.Yung Chang) Halda (syn. ''Daphne xichouensis'' H.F.Zhou ex C.Yung Chang) The Flora of China recognizes these as separate species. They were reduced to infrataxa of ''Daphne papyracea'' by Josef Halda in 1997 and 2000. ''Daphne papyracea'' subsp. ''jinyunensis'' is distinguished from subsp. ''papyracea'' by its dark, very finely hairy branches, inflorescences with few flowers and very small bracteoles. Its flowers are 6–8 mm long and 3–4 mm across. It is native to

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

in Sichuan, China, where it is found in open forests on rocky slopes. ''Daphne papyracea'' subsp. ''yunnanensis'' is distinguished from subsp. ''papyracea'' by the shape of its leaves which usually have tips that are pointed to heart-shaped (acuminate-caudate) and the shape of the disk which is almost divided into four parts, having two bifid lobes. It is native to south-west Yunnan, where it occurs in montane forests. ''Daphne papyracea'' var. ''longituba'' is a variety of ''D. papyracea'' subsp. ''papyracea''. It differs in the length of the flowers, which are 10–14 mm long. It is found in forests and valleys at 1000–1200 m in north-east

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

, China. ''Daphne papyracea'' var. ''xichouensis'' has reddish-white flowers and is found at 1500–1800 m on moist shrubby slopes in south-east Yunnan, China.

Usage for paper

It is mentioned as a "paper shrub" by an English botanist in 1818. It is known as the main source of raw material for the production of

lokta paper ''Lokta paper'', also known as ''Nepali kagaj'' or ''Nepali paper'', is a wildcrafted, handmade artisan paper indigenous to Nepal. It is made from the bark of two of the species of the shrub ''Daphne''. The paper was used historically in Nepal f ...

, a hand-made paper from Nepal.

References

papyracea {{Thymelaeaceae-stub