Bellis perennis

Bellis perennis is a common European species of Daisy, often considered the archetypal species of that name, though many other related plants share the name; to distinguish it from other daisies, it is sometimes qualified as Common Daisy, Lawn Daisy or occasionally English daisy. It is native to western, central and northern Europe. The species is widely naturalized in North America, where it is considered an invasive weed.

It is a herbaceous plant with short creeping rhizomes and small rounded or spoon-shaped evergreen leaves 2–5 cm long, grows close to ground. The flowerheads are 2–3 cm in diameter, with white ray florets (often tipped red) and yellow disc florets; they are produced on leafless stems 2–10 cm (rarely 15 cm) tall. The lawn daisy is a dicot.

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Name

It is thought that the name "daisy" is a corruption of "day's eye", because the whole head closes at night and opens in the morning. Chaucer called it "eye of the day".

Daisy is also a common girl's name and is a nickname for girls named Margaret.

Uses

It is not affected by mowing and is therefore often considered a weed on lawns, though many also value the appearance of the flowers. Several cultivars and hybrids have been selected with much larger flowerheads up to 5–6 cm diameter and with light pink to purple-red ray florets.

Bellis perennis is also a widely used homeopathic remedy. Herbalists use it to treat kidney problems, rheumatism, arthritis, bronchitis and diarrhoea. It also has astringent properties.^[1]

References

1. ^ Howard, Michael. Traditional Folk Remedies (Century, 1987), p129

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