In old almanacs, today’s plant of the day was Bay. Here are 10 facts:
Its common names include bay tree, bay laurel, sweet bay, true laurel, Grecian laurel, or simply laurel.
Bay leaves are a common ingredient in cooking, used as a herb. They are used to enhance the flavour of dishes such as stews, but should be removed after cooking as cooking doesn’t soften them and they can irritate the digestive tract.
You can get ground bay leaves, which can be safely consumed, and are often added to a Bloody Mary cocktail.
Bay leaves aren’t toxic to humans, although some plants which look similar, like mountain laurel and cherry laurel, are. Insects don’t like bay leaves, though, so they can be used as an insect repellent in pantries.
The laurel wreaths used in ancient Greece and Rome were made from bay leaves. A wreath of bay laurels was given as the prize at the Pythian Games because the games were in honour of Apollo, and the laurel was one of his symbols.
This arose because of the myth of Apollo and Daphne. Apollo fell in love with Daphne, a priestess of Gaia, but she wasn’t interested and appealed to Gaia to stop him pursuing her. Gaia transported her to Crete, and left a bay tree in her place.
According to Pliny the Elder, the leaves must not be used to light fires on altars, because when the leaves burn, they crackle, which Pliny interpreted as a protest by the plant at being used so profanely.
In Eastern Orthodoxy, bay leaves symbolise Jesus' destruction of Hades and freeing of the dead.
It is the source of the words baccalaureate and poet laureate, as well as the expressions "assume the laurel" and "resting on one's laurels". In Italy, laurel wreaths are worn as a crown by graduating school students.
Bay leaves contain approximately 2 percent essential oil, the principal component of which is cineole.
NEW!!
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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