''Dirca'' is a genus of three or four species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s in the family Thymelaeaceae, native to North America. The genus is named after Dirce in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...

. The general common name for this deciduous shrub is leatherwood; other names include moosewood, ropebark and the Powhatan-derived name wicopy. The stems of ''Dirca'' are exceptionally pliable and the bark is difficult to tear by hand; for this reason, its stems were used by Native Americans in eastern North America as thongs or ropes. Members of the genus can grow to a maximum height of about three meters, and are often associated with rich, moist woods or slopes above creeks or streams. '' D. palustris'' is a widespread species that grows in scattered populations throughout eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to North Dakota and Oklahoma, and south to Florida. '' D. occidentalis'' grows in several counties in the

San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. '' D. mexicana'' was described in 1995 from one population in northeastern

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. In 2008, a fourth species, '' D. decipiens'', was described from several populations in Kansas and Arkansas, at the southwestern limits of the range of ''D. palustris''. ''Dirca palustris'' is occasionally cultivated, although its slow growth seems to prevent its widespread use in horticulture. The shrub can be difficult to recognize because the flowers are small (less than one cm), displayed for only a short period in the early spring, and may be a nondescript greenish-yellow. In the central part of its range, ''D. palustris'' is often found growing with the much more frequent spicebush, which also has small yellow flowers that appear before the leaves at a similar time. Although it is listed as poisonous in some publications because its stems and leaves contain calcium oxalate crystals, its toxicity is uncertain and may be low. Likewise, the berries may have narcotic properties, although this claim remains unsubstantiated.Erichsen-Brown,
Medicinal and Other Uses of North American Plants
1989. pg 179.

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Thymelaeoideae Malvales genera {{Thymelaeaceae-stub