Daphne

The nymph Daphne, daughter of the river-god Peneus, was beloved by Apollo. But Daphne was a companion of Artemis and a devotee of the hunt, and had vowed to remain unwed. Apollo pursued her through her native woodlands until she finally came upon the banks of her father's river. Exhausted, she begged Peneus to save her by transforming her beauty. In answer to her prayer, he changed Daphne into a laurel tree. Apollo, balked of his prey but still devoted to the beautiful nymph, vowed to make the laurel his sacred tree; thereafter, laurel crowns were used as signs of honor and the laurel tree itself never shed its lustrous leaves.