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 laureola Daphne laureola Daphne laureola, commonly called spurge-laurel (or daphne-laurel, laurel-leaved daphne, olive-spurge, wood laurel, copse laurel), is a shrub in the flowering plant family Thymelaeaceae. Despite the name, this woodland plant is neither a spurge nor a laurel. Its native range covers much of Europe and extends to Algeria, Morocco and the Azores. With "Daphne mezereum" it is one of two species of "Daphne" native to Britain, both of which have a strong preference for alkaline soils and are most commonly found in limestone areas, although "D. laureola" is also found on clay. However, unlike "D. mezereum", "D. laureola" is