DAISY (A.S. daeges cage,

See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day's

See also:

• EYE
• EYE (O. Eng. edge, Ger. Auge; derived from an Indo-European root also seen in Lat. oc-ulus, the organ of vision (q.v.)

eye)  , the name applied to the plants constituting the genus Bellis, of the natural order Corapositae . The genus contains ten species found in Europe and the Mediterranean region . The common daisy, B. perennis, is the only representative of the genus in the British Isles . It is a perennial, abundant everywhere in pastures and on banks in Europe, except in the most northerly regions, and in Asia Minor, and occurs as an introduced plant in North America . The stem of the daisy is short; the leaves, which are numerous and form a rosette, are slightly hairy, obovate-spathulate in shape, with rounded teeth on the margin in the upper part; and the root-stock is creeping, and of a brownish colour . The flowers are to be found from March to November, and occasionally in the winter months . The heads of flowers are solitary, the outer or ray-florets pink or white, the disk-florets bright yellow . The size and luxuriance of the plant are much affected by the nature of the soil in which it grows . The cultivated varieties, which are numerous, bear finely-coloured flowers, and make very effective borders for walks . What is known as the " hen-and-chicken " daisy has the main head surrounded by a brood of sometimes as many as ten or twelve small heads, formed in the axils of the scales of the involucre . The ray-florets curve inwards and " close " the flower-head in dull weather and towards evening . Chaucer writes " The daisie, or els the eye of the daie, The emprise, and the floure of flouris alle "; and again " To seen this floure agenst the sunne sprede Whan it riseth early by the morrow, That blissful sight softeneth all my sorrow "; and the flower is often alluded to with admiration by the other poets of nature .

To the

farmer, however, the daisy is a weed, and a most wasteful one, as it exhausts the soil and is not eaten by any kind of stock . In French the daisy is termed la marguerite (p.apyapfrrlr, a pearl), and " herb margaret " is stated to be an old English appellation for it . In Scotland it is popularly called the gowan, and in Yorkshire it is the bairnwort, or flower beloved by children . The Christmas and Michaelmas daisies are species of Aster; the ,ox-eye daisy is Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, a common weed in meadows and waste places . B. perennis flore-pleno, the double.daisy, consists of dwarf, showy, 3 to 4 in. plants, flowering freely in spring if grown in rich light soil, and frequently divided and transplanted . The white and pink forms, with the white and red quilled, and the variegated-leaved aucubaefolia, are some of the best .