Dissertatio de Daphne

Named for the water nymph in Greek myth who was turned into a laurel tree, daphnes are a genus of 50-60 species of flowering shrubs native to Asia, Europe, and north Africa. Highly scented, they are a favorite garden plant, although the berries are poisonous. They are the focus of this university dissertation written by Professor Carl Peter Thunberg. In 18^th- and 19^th-century Europe, professors wrote the dissertations; the student’s job was to explicate and defend it and pay for its publication. The Smithsonian Libraries holds dozens of these botanical and zoological papers by the great systematist Carl von Linné (Linnaeus) at the University of Uppsala and his student and successor Thunberg.