Side by side
What tells them apart
Same family and the same trick of bark that will not snap. Daphne has larger, flat leaves, green on both sides, and bears red berries; sparrow-wort has tiny scale leaves, white beneath, and no showy berries. Both burn.
Confusion that poisons
How to tell it
Thin, very flexible branches covered in tiny fleshy leaves overlapping like scales, green above and white-felted beneath. Try to snap a branch: it bends and strips into fibres, it does not break. Insignificant yellow-green flowers in winter. Range: mainly a Spanish plant, practically absent from Portugal.
How to tell it
Try to snap a twig: it will not break, it bends and the bark peels off in fibrous strips. Narrow stiff leaves, green all year, packed in a spiral. Red or orange berries.