Plant Taxonomy of Daphne Shrubs:
Plant Type for the Daphnes:
Characteristics of Daphne Plants:
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones for Daphne Plants:
Sun and Soil Requirements for Daphne Shrubs:
Care for Daphne Shrubs:
Uses for Daphne Plants:
Caveats in Growing Daphne Shrubs:
Daphne Shrubs and Greek Mythology? Not What You Think....:
In Greek mythology the nymph, Daphne, fleeing Apollo, was transformed not into a daphne shrub, but into a bay laurel tree (genus name, Laurus, from the Latin). Bay laurel was, however, referred to in ancient Greek by the name, daphne. But, as noted in the Spice Pages, "In modern botanical terminology, Daphne denotes the genus of the toxic plant spurge laurel (Daphne mezereum)...."
Are you confused yet? Well, it gets even more confusing when you consider that mountain laurel is of a genus (Kalmia) distinct from either the true laurels or the true daphnes. Let me try to clear up the confusion somewhat:
We're dealing here with three distinct groups of plants:
- Daphne is the genus of the daphne shrubs discussed in this article and has its roots in Europe and Asia; the name is of Greek origin
- Laurus (which is Latin) is the genus name of the true laurels, also Old World natives;
- Kalmia is a New World plant, commonly referred to as "mountain laurel."
But if the "daphne" shrub isn't the plant in the Apollo-Daphne myth, what, then, is the origin of the plant's name? Folkard (Plant Lore, Legends and Lyrics, p. 310) suggests that, because many daphne shrubs "have Laurel-like leaves," modern botanists must have been comfortable with this transference between the laurels and daphnes. To put it another way, similarities in appearance made the two plants candidates for the same names available in the Greek and Latin name pool. Presumably, since the Greek genus name, Daphne hadn't been used to classify the laurels (the Latin, Laurus having been preferred) and was, therefore, still available, it was put to use when it came time to name the plants that we have come to know as "daphnes."


