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Another recommendation from Gerard was to use them to ease fevers. 4 In Mrs Grieves, she quotes a Dr Hill who, in 1777, used an infusion of Daisy leaves as a cure for a ‘Hectic fever’. Morikawa, T., Ninomiya, K., Takamori, Y., Nishida, E., Yasue, M., Hayakawa, T., Muraoka, O., Li, X., Nakamura, S., Yoshikawa, M. and Matsuda, H. (2015) Oleanane-type triterpene saponins with collagen synthesis-promoting activity from the flowers of Bellis perennis, Phytochemistry, 116: 203-212. Daisies have also been known to contain medicinal properties. For instance, wild daisy tea can be used for a number of maladies, including cough, kidney problems, bronchitis, inflammation and problems with the liver. Others have used the therapeutic benefits of the daisy for childbirth pain and difficulties, arthritic joints and aches (particularly for gardeners), healing wounds and scrapes, and so much more. Life has bowled us some odd balls from time to time, which have inspired our books. Not going into details – don’t want to give any plot lines away.
The main parts traditionally used were the leaves and the roots. The leaves were used as a ‘pot herb’ and could be added to salads, soups and stews 1 to help ease stomach ache and inflammation of the intestines. So, Gerard seemed to think of it highly as a herb to be used in the digestive system. Culpepper and Mrs Grieves also recommend this use for an inflamed liver, with Mrs Grieves saying it should be taken as a distilled water. 3, 5 We write comedy misadventures for those who enjoy a smile and don’t want to take life too seriously.A wound-healer during wars, a flower to keep small children safe and something sprinkled over the Earth by God to cheer parents up when their infant died. The superstitions and stories associated with Daisies are many and varied. But do any of them hold any truth? Daisies are often seen growing in many lawns between March and October. They are often-overlooked nowadays but as Culpepper says ‘This is another herb which nature has made common, because it may be useful’. | Credit Helen Miller We’ve tapped into our memories with our writing. Adding a good splash of over-active imagination and incredulity to come up with the characters and plots. This is quite a straight forward one! Daisy comes from ‘day’s eye’. This is because the flower opens when the Sun comes up and closes at dusk (or in wet weather). Although it could also be a translation of the Latin ‘solis oculus’ meaning ‘sun’s eye’. 9
Our lives both before and after we met and married have been full of surprises, funny incidents, and bizarre situations. We have both lived through ‘interesting times.’ What has kept us going through good times and bad has been our shared ironic sense of humour and strong self-belief that there will be a path through to better days. Culpepper, N. (1653) Culpepper’s Complete Herbal: consisting of a comprehensive description of nearly all herbs with their medicinal properties and directions for compounding the medicines extracted from them, W. Foulsham & Co., Ltd., London. Other common names for the Daisy are ‘Bruisewort’, ‘Bairnwort’ (from Scotland, refering to the joy of children gathering the flowerheads to make Daisy-chains) and ‘Llygad y Dydd’ (from the Welsh for ‘Eye of the Day’). 5 Being a close relation to Arnica montana, Daisies are also sometimes called ‘Poor Man’s Arnica’. 2Gerard’s last recommendation for Daisies is sniffing the juice of the leaves and the roots to clear the head and shift mucus and clearing the eyes. 4 Daisies are recorded in Old English records, as being hung about the house to drive out fleas. 9 The different parts of a Daisy ‘flower’ are more complicated than they appear at first glance. The actual flower head is a grouping of many small individual flowers: white ray florets and the smaller, yellow disc florets in the centre. These can be clearly seen by looking at the flowerheads with a magnifying glass or hand-lense. | Credit: Helen Miller Karakas, P. Sohretoglu, D., Liptaj, T., Stujber, M., Turker, A. U., Marak, J., Calis, I. and Yalcin, F. N. (2014) Isolation of an oleanane-type saponin active from Bellis perennis through antitumor bioassay-guided procedures, Pharmaceutical Biology, 52(8):951-955. We’ve lived everywhere man” as the song goes but are now permanently settled in Darlington – probably, but who knows? The other use for the leaves was as a wound healer for bruises and swellings. 4 Mrs Grieves adds that it has ‘…a great reputation as a cure for fresh wounds…’ This was achieved using an ointment and applying it externally rather than taking the plant internally and this was apparently a well-known remedy in the fourteenth century. 5 Culpepper says Daisies are ’…accounted good to dissolve congealed and coagulated blood…’. 3
Recent research has found that the traditional wound healing use of Daisies has a strong scientific basis. One study found that dried Daisy flowers, powdered and extracted in n-butanol, accelerated wound-healing and decreased scarring on skin wounds. 6 The Latin name for Daisy is Bellis perennis. The meaning of this is not quite as straight forward. The genus, Bellis, could be either from the Latin for war, ‘bellum’, or from the Latin for beauty, ‘bellus’. 5 Another idea is that it is after the nymph, Belides, who transformed into a Daisy to escape the attention of Vertumnus (the Roman God of Seasons and Gardens). 5, 9 We are retired (except for writing books – but that’s more like a hobby and no one tells us to go to work so that doesn’t count) Karakas, P. Karakas, A., Boran, I., Turker, A. U., Yalcin, F. N. and Bilensoy, E. (2012) The evaluation of topical administration of Bellis perennis fraction on circular excision wound healing in Wista albino rats, Pharmaceutical Biology, 50(8):1031-1037. The Yellow Daisy Festival that takes place in Stone Mountain, Georgia is typically scheduled for mid-September. This festival has been a local attraction for more than fifty years and was even voted one of the top arts and crafts shows in the United States. And, of course, there are plenty of daisy-themed activities and attractions to stay busy with and enjoy!
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While it would likely be difficult to find a daisy festival that falls on National Daisy Day, it’s still a great time to make plans and mark that calendar to attend the festival later in the year. Bruton-Seal, J. and Seal, M. (2017) Wayside Medicine: Forgotten plants and how to use them, Merlin Unwin Books, Ludlow, Shropshire, UK. The last more unusual superstition associated with Daisies was that feeding a small puppy Daisy juice mixed with milk would prevent it from growing. 4, 5 I have seen this recorded in a few places but have no idea where the idea came from. Culpepper does say that an infusion of Daisy mixed with asses milk is good for consumption of the lungs, but doesn’t mention puppies! 3 Another event that honors this venerable flower is the Daisy Festival Outdoor Fest in Albert Lea, Minnesota. Typically taking place on the first weekend in September, this festival includes arts, musical performances, crafts and more. The festivities are located in the historic downtown Albert Lea Central Park.
Helen is a freelance copy and content writer, enthusiastic about science and history. To learn more about her work visit her Linked-In profile. Even better, it might be nice to gift someone a pot with planted daisies so they will last much longer. Whether they are grown at home or sourced from a florist or garden shop, daisies make a lovely gift on National Daisy Day or really any time of the year! Make Plans to Attend a Daisy Festival While some gardeners may have originally considered daisies to be a weed, it’s obvious that this flower offers much to the environment in the way of beauty as well as health. Some people don’t realize that many of the varieties of daisies are edible and healthy when eaten in salads or used to decorate sweet baked goods such as cakes.One great way to enjoy and celebrate National Daisy Day would be to gift someone a large bouquet of daisies. Whether it’s a friend, favorite coworkers, spouse or neighbor, this is the day to brighten up someone’s life with some daisies. Amazing how real they become though once they are brought to life in a manuscript. How wonderful it would be to invite all the characters in our books to a party and have a chat and let them get to know each other! Although daisies originally hail from Europe, they have traveled far and wide, and can now be found all over the Americas and Asia, as well as Australia.
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