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The humble daisy brings a smile to my face The humble daisy brings a smile to my face
(2 months later)
Daisies are one of our best known and most widely distributed wildflowers, and maybe this is why we sometimes pass them by with barely a second glance. This morning, though, they have stopped me in my tracks and brought a smile to my face.Daisies are one of our best known and most widely distributed wildflowers, and maybe this is why we sometimes pass them by with barely a second glance. This morning, though, they have stopped me in my tracks and brought a smile to my face.
They line the edge of the path, spangle the open grassland, and have so thoroughly covered one fenced pasture that almost all signs of grass have vanished beneath a blanket of white. In the warm sunshine each and every one turns a bright and open face skywards, a response that gave them their name “day’s eye”.They line the edge of the path, spangle the open grassland, and have so thoroughly covered one fenced pasture that almost all signs of grass have vanished beneath a blanket of white. In the warm sunshine each and every one turns a bright and open face skywards, a response that gave them their name “day’s eye”.
Perhaps it is because they are plentiful, low-growing and apparently simple in structure that they are often described as humble. Yet the flower heads, with their arrangement of white ray florets surrounding a centre of golden yellow disc florets, are quietly beautiful and indeed the first part of the plant’s botanical title, Bellis perennis, derives from the Latin word for beauty.Perhaps it is because they are plentiful, low-growing and apparently simple in structure that they are often described as humble. Yet the flower heads, with their arrangement of white ray florets surrounding a centre of golden yellow disc florets, are quietly beautiful and indeed the first part of the plant’s botanical title, Bellis perennis, derives from the Latin word for beauty.
Related: Country diary: Wenlock Edge: The daisy, the spider and the damselfly
Classical mythology tells of how the nymph Belides transformed herself into a daisy to avoid the attentions of Vertumnus, the god of orchards. Other traditions tell different stories. Most poignant are the Celtic tales that associate daisies with the spirits of children who die at or shortly after birth. The shared thread is purity and innocence, qualities that the daisy has come to represent in the language of flowers.Classical mythology tells of how the nymph Belides transformed herself into a daisy to avoid the attentions of Vertumnus, the god of orchards. Other traditions tell different stories. Most poignant are the Celtic tales that associate daisies with the spirits of children who die at or shortly after birth. The shared thread is purity and innocence, qualities that the daisy has come to represent in the language of flowers.
For many people, daisies evoke memories of childhood summers, of making chains from the flowers or playing he-loves-me-he-loves-me-not while pulling away the white florets. As children we would sometimes eat them, although I cannot imagine why, for they had no discernible taste. The young leaves have a slightly bitter flavour and have been used as a salad ingredient.For many people, daisies evoke memories of childhood summers, of making chains from the flowers or playing he-loves-me-he-loves-me-not while pulling away the white florets. As children we would sometimes eat them, although I cannot imagine why, for they had no discernible taste. The young leaves have a slightly bitter flavour and have been used as a salad ingredient.
The plant’s uses in herbal medicine are many, from alleviating catarrh to easing bruises and muscle pain. But it is perhaps for the simple pleasure that the sight of a sunlit field full of daisies kindles that we should value them most, as did Chaucer, for whom they were the flowers that “did soften all my sorrow”.The plant’s uses in herbal medicine are many, from alleviating catarrh to easing bruises and muscle pain. But it is perhaps for the simple pleasure that the sight of a sunlit field full of daisies kindles that we should value them most, as did Chaucer, for whom they were the flowers that “did soften all my sorrow”.
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