Daphne immediately commenced her transformation into a laurel tree ("Laurus nobilis"): Even this did not quench Apollo's ardour, and as he embraced the tree, he felt her heart still beating. He then declared: Upon hearing his words, Daphne bends her branches, approving his decision. A version of the attempt on Daphne's sworn virginity that has been less familiar since the Renaissance was narrated by the Hellenistic poet Parthenius, in his "Erotica Pathemata", "The Sorrows of Love". Parthenius' tale, based on the Hellenistic historian Phylarchus, was known to Pausanias, who recounted it in his "Description of Greece" (2nd century AD). In this,
Daphne mezereum Daphne mezereum Daphne mezereum, commonly known as February daphne, mezereon, mezereum, spurge laurel or spurge olive, is a species of "Daphne" in the flowering plant family Thymelaeaceae, native to most of Europe and Western Asia, north to northern Scandinavia and Russia. In southern Europe it is confined to medium to higher elevations and in the subalpine vegetation zone, but descends to near sea level in northern Europe. It is generally confined to soils derived from limestone. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 1.5 m tall. The leaves are soft, 3–8 cm long and 1–2 cm broad, arranged spirally on