British wildflowers - Daisy

British wildflowers

049 II Daisy Bellis Perennis L

British wildflowers of the Fields and Medows

The Daisy is found in the North Temperate Zone in Europe generally at the present time, there is nothing to indicate that the Daisy is an ancient plant in Great Britain. The Daisy is ubiquitous, growing in every part of Great Britain, and ascending to 3000 ft. in the Highlands.

So common is the Daisy that its occurrence is scarcely noted, and if it were not that it is absent from wooded districts one might consider it as the commonest of British plants, except the Annual Meadow Grass, but as the latter is driven from arable soil probably the two are about on a level in this respect. Fields, highways, hills, as well as dales, are everywhere studded with Daisies in the spring and summer months.

The habit of the Daisy is the rosette habit. The plant may be quite hairless or hairy, according to situation. The root-stock is stout, with numerous stout fibres, and prostrate. The aerial stem is a scape. The leaves are all radical, as in true rosette plants, and lie on the ground, or the inner ones may be erect. They are stalked, inversely egg-shaped to spoon-shaped, fleshy, blunt or rounded at the tip, which is scalloped, toothed, with a broad midrib, dark green and frequently glossy.

The flowerheads of the Daisy are borne on simple, single scapes, with a yellow disk and a white or pink ray. The florets are occasionally all ligulate, or rarely all tubular. The ray florets are numerous in one series, ligulate. The arms of the style are linear, blunt, with a thick border. The disk florets are tubular, 4-5 toothed, the anther cells simple, the arms of the style short, thick, with papillose cones at the tip. The involucre or whorl of bracts is bell-shaped, the bracts in 1-2 series, green, blunt, black at the tip. The achenes are flattened at the margin, somewhat hairy without pappus.

Photo. B. Hanley - Daisy (Bellis perennis, L.)

Flowering of the Daisy takes place in March up till August or later. It is perennial, and multiplied by division of roots.

The flowers are gynomonoecious, with female and complete flowers on the same head. The ray florets are female, as a rule. The disk florets are hermaphrodite. The ray florets are 5 mm. across, the disk 6 mm., so that the whole capitulum is about 16 mm. There are no stamens in the ray. and the styles have no sweeping hairs as happens in some cases, the two branches being covered throughout with larger stigmatic papillae, receptive to pollen. The style is short in the complete disk florets, and is provided with a pollen brush, on the outer surface, from the broad part to the tip. The pollen brush serves as the style lengthens to sweep the pollen out of the anther cylinder, and to heap it up in a mass till insects visit the flower. The stigmatic papillae are in the disk florets confined to a narrow line on each border below the broadest part. The stigmas after pollination has taken place are withdrawn into the tube, and this economizes the use of the pollen.

At sunset the florets close up, hence Daisy (daies eye), and in wet weather also.

The plant is visited by the Hive Bee, Andrena, Halictus. Sphecodes, Nomada, Osmia, Myrmica; flies, Empis, Eristalis, Rhingia, Syritta, Melithreptes, Scatophaga, Lucilia, Musca; and the butterflies Polyom-matus\ beetles, Meligethes, Oedemera, Leptura.

There is no pappus, but the achenes are provided with flattened ribs, which aid in wind dispersal.

Though the Daisy grows apparently everywhere in spring and early summer, from the wealth of flowers to be noticed on all hands, yet it has a predilection for sandy soil, and is more or less a sand plant. It will grow, too, on a clay soil, and in such cases is a clay plant.

A minute little cluster-cup fungus, Puccinia obscura, grows upon it. No insects feed upon it.

The name Bellis, Fuchs, is from the Latin bellus, pretty, and the second Latin name refers to the length of the Daisies flowering season and perennial nature.

So common a plant has an abundance of names, which, on account of its universality, we give in full: Bachelor's Buttons, Bairnwort, Banwort, Bennergowan, Bennert, Bennet, Benwort, Bessy-banwood, Billy Button, Boneflower, Bonwort, Briswort, Bruisewort, Cat-posy, Cockiloorie, Comfrey, Confery, Less Consound, Cumfirie, Daiseysheg, Daisy, Dog-, Shepherd's-, Small-, or the Children's Daisy, Dazeg, Dicky Daisy, Ewe-gowan, Gowan, May Gowan, Gowlan, Mary Gow-lan, Hen and Chickens, Herb Margaret, March Daisy, Margaret's Herb, Marguerite, Maudlinwort, Mother of thousands, Silver Penny, Primrose, Sweep, Sweeps.

The name Bairn wort may be given because children gather it so much; but as to Benwort, of which it may be a variant. Turner says: The northern men call this herbe a banwort because it helpeth bones to knyt agayne. The name Bruisewort is applied because the leaves stamped taketh away bruises and swellings if they be laide thereon, whereupon it was called in olde time Bruiseworte . So at any rate says Gerarde. The name Daisy is from the A.S. daeges cage, eye of day, from its opening and closing its flowers with the daylight. In connection with the name May Gowan there is a Berwickshire saying: Yell get round again, if ye had your fit (foot) on the May Gowan.

A Daisy is taken and its leaves plucked one by one to test sincerity by lovers, who say at the same time, Does he love me a little - much - passionately - not at all? when they count.

La Blanche et simple Paguerette, Qui ton coeur consulte surtout, Dit, ton amant, tendre filette, Jaime, un peu, beaucoup, point du tout.

Girls put Daisy roots under their pillows to dream of their lovers. To dream of the Daisy is lucky in spring or summer, but not so in autumn or winter. The appearance of the Daisy helps the peasant in the north to mark the season's advance.

Spring has not arrived till you can set your foot on twelve Daisies.

When a tooth is extracted, to be free from toothache, in Thuringia, you must eat three Daisies.

They were scattered over graves, says Gay. The name Marguerite was erroneously derived from Margaret of Cortuna.

There is a double flouret, white and red, That our lasses call herb-Margaret, In honour of Cortona's penitent, Whose contrite soul with red remorse was rent, While on her penitence kind heaven did throw The white of purity, surpassing snow; So white and red in this fair flower entwine, Which maids are wont to scatter at her shrine.

The ointment Save in Chaucer's day was partly prepared from the Daisy. It was said in the eighteenth century to be a cure for hectic fevers caused by drinking cold water when overheated. In Germany it was eaten with meat as a potherb. Cattle, horses, and sheep do not touch it.

Chaucer eulogized it in his day: In special one called Se of the Daie,

The Daisie, a floure white and rede, And in French called La bel Margarete, O commendable floure above all flouris in the meede, Than love I most those flouris white and rede, Such that men callen Daisies in our Town.

Essential Specific Characters:

152. Daisy - Bellis perennis, L. - No aerial stem, but prostrate rhizome, leaves radical, obovate, crenate, dentate, flowerheads on scapes, white ray florets, yellow disk florets. Some flowers have all ligulate florets, or all tubular florets, bracts in one row.

British wildflowers

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