Nature table: Daisies

The common daisy is probably our most widely recognised wild flower. The small flowers with a yellow centre and a fringe of many white petals, often tinged with pink, come into bloom in March and continue through into October, sometimes later in a mild winter.

They are carried on short stalks growing out of a flat rosette of dark green, spoon-shaped leaves. The common or lawn daisy is a member of the large aster family of wild and cultivated flowers and there other native daisy species, including the much larger ox-eye daisy. The name comes from ‘day’s eye’ because the flowers open and dawn and close at dusk, or in very dull weather. Daisies are regarded as a weed by gardeners looking for a perfect lawn but are an important ingredient in wildflower meadows and are generally well liked. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote: ‘Of all the flowers in the meadow, I love these red and white flowers the most’. They are also edible, particularly the young leaves, and are used in herbal and homeopathic medicine.