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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Dirca''
| image = Dirca palustris - Edwards.jpg
| image_width = 220px
| image_caption = ''[[Dirca palustris]]''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Malvales]]
| familia = [[Thymelaeaceae]]
| genus = '''''Dirca'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
''[[Dirca mexicana]]''<br>
''[[Dirca occidentalis]]''<br>
''[[Dirca palustris]]''
}}
'''''Dirca''''' is a genus of three species of [[flowering plant]]s 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]] [[shrub]]s. ''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. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
==External links==
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=dirca+&mode=sciname&submit.x=12&submit.y=11 ''Dirca'' at USDA Plants Database]
*[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Dirca%20occidentalis Jepson Flora Project: ''Dirca occidentalis'']
*[http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Dircapa.htm ''Dirca palustris'' in North Carolina State Poisonous Plants Handbook]
*[http://hdt.typepad.com/henrys_blog/2005/09/september_8_185.html Thoreau writes about ''Dirca'']
[[Category:Malvales]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Dirca''
| image = Dirca palustris - Edwards.jpg
| image_width = 220px
| image_caption = ''[[Dirca palustris]]''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Malvales]]
| familia = [[Thymelaeaceae]]
| genus = '''''Dirca'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
''[[Dirca mexicana]]''<br>
''[[Dirca occidentalis]]''<br>
''[[Dirca palustris]]''
}}
'''''Dirca''''' is a genus of three species of [[flowering plant]]s 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]] [[shrub]]s. ''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. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
==External links==
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=dirca+&mode=sciname&submit.x=12&submit.y=11 ''Dirca'' at USDA Plants Database]
*[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Dirca%20occidentalis Jepson Flora Project: ''Dirca occidentalis'']
*[http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Dircapa.htm ''Dirca palustris'' in North Carolina State Poisonous Plants Handbook]
*[http://hdt.typepad.com/henrys_blog/2005/09/september_8_185.html Thoreau writes about ''Dirca'']
[[Category:Malvales]]
