Editing Dryad (section)

== Types ==
{{Greek myth (nymph)}}

===Daphnaie===
{{main|Daphnaie}}
These were nymphs of the laurel trees.

===Epimelides===
{{main|Epimeliad}}
The Maliades, Meliades or Epimelides were nymphs of apple and other fruit trees and the protectors of sheep. The Greek word ''melas'', from which their name derives, means both apple and sheep. The [[Hesperides]], the guardians of the golden apples, were regarded as this type of dryad.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

===Hamadryad===
{{main|Hamadryad}}
Dryads, like all [[nymph]]s, were supernaturally long-lived and, like many, were tied to their homes, but some were a step beyond most nymphs. These were the [[hamadryad]]s, who were an integral part of their trees, such that if the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it also died. For these reasons, dryads and the [[Greek god]]s punished any mortal who harmed trees without first [[wiktionary:propitiate|propitiating]] the tree-nymphs. (associated with Oak trees)

===Meliae===
{{main|Meliae}}
The dryads of the [[ash tree]] were called the [[Meliae]].<ref>Larson (2001) p.11.</ref> The Meliae sisters tended the infant [[Zeus]] in [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]'s [[Crete|Cretan]] cave. In [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'', [[Gaia]] gave birth to the Meliae after being made fertile by the blood of the castrated [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]].<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony'' 183–87.</ref>