This shrub was once planted in front of the Arboretum greenhouse (photographed in 2006).
Leatherwood belongs to an entirely North American genus with only two species. Americans picture family Thymelaeaceae by looking onto their Dirca, while Europeans watch their Daphne mezereum and even call the entire family "mezereum." Meanwhile, the family contains about 50 genera and more than 750 species widely distributed around the world including much of the Southern Hemisphere.