Apollo and Daphne the forest. Due to her identity as an “aemula Phoebes” (female rival or emulator of Artemis), she had dedicated herself to perpetual virginity. Her father, the river god Peneus, demanded that she get married and give him grandchildren. She, however, begged her father to let her remain unmarried; he eventually complied. Apollo continually followed her, begging her to stay, but the nymph continued to reject him. They were evenly matched in the race until Eros intervened, helping Apollo catch up to Daphne. Seeing that Apollo was bound to reach her, she called upon her father, "Help me, Peneus! Open the
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