Daphne curse made by the god Cupid, son of Venus, on the god Apollo (Phoebus), she became the unwilling object of the infatuation of Apollo, who chased her against his wish. Just before being overtaken by him, Daphne pleaded to her rivergod father for help, who transformed her into a laurel tree, thus foiling Apollo. Thenceforth Apollo developed a special reverence for laurel. At the Pythian Games which were held every four years in Delphi in honour of Apollo, a wreath of laurel gathered from the Vale of Tempe in Thessaly was given as a prize. Hence it later became customary
Daphnandra johnsonii "Daphnandra micrantha", the Australian socketwood. Recently it has been recognised as a separate species. The type specimen collected in the Illawarra district by L.A.S. Johnson, after whom the species was named, by Richard Schodde. The generic name "Daphnandra" refers to a similarity of the anthers of the bay laurel. Greek "daphne" refers to the bay laurel, and "andros" from the Greek for man. The term "socketwood" is from the related species "Daphnandra apatela". A feature of which is where larger branchlets meet the main trunk. This joining resembles a "ball and socket" type joint. A small to medium-sized tree. Growing