bayleaf

                                                  Herb of the Day: Bayle

                                                                               The noble leaf             has a history like no other herb. Legend and myth surrounded it even before the champions of the first Olympic Games, in 776 B.C, were crowned with garlands of the glossy green leaf.

Ancient mythology tells us that the sun god Apollo pursued the uninterested nymph Daphne. Apollo was relentless until the gods granted her mercy by turning her into a laurel, or bay, tree. The Greeks still refer to the tree as a Daphne.

Psalms 37:35 illustrates the esteem held for the mighty plant in Biblical times: "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree."

Romans considered the bay tree a symbol of glory as well as protection from thunderstorms. Nero believed bay trees purified the air and Roman victors would wipe the blood from their swords with the leaves. In Shakespeare's time superstition held that when bay trees died, disaster was sure to follow.