Does anyone know what this shrub is? We saw it by a house in West Vancouver during one of our walks this summer. It was growing down fairly close to the ocean - probably zone 8 in that area - but wasn't so close that it would be subjected to any salt spray. The shrub was perhaps 4 - 5' tall, with bunches of leaves on the ends of each branches and with no other leaves. I don't know if that was its natural growth habit - it might have been not very healthy.
It certainly looks like it could be Spurge-laurel, Daphne laureola. I have seen quite a few examples of that shrub in some of our warmer areas such as around Victoria or on Saltspring Island (zone 8) where it has indeed been reported to be a problem although in Vancouver (mostly 7), I haven't noticed any. The location where this plant was growing would have been a zone 8 so that fits - although the growth habit of this particular specimen was so different, I missed identifying it. Maybe we'll go for a walk through that area again in the Spring, find it again and see its typical Daphne flowers.
