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. The second superstition of Daisy chains was so that Daisies could be worn by both sexes. By making the Daisies into a circle, evil spirits were prevented from passing though. This meant the children would not be stolen away by the Little/Faery Folk. Older children passed this skill onto the younger children, ensuring they all stayed safe. 2

Gerard describes ‘the little Daisie’ (to separate it from the Ox-eye Daisy) as a cold, moist herb that could be used to alleviate all types of pain, but especially joint pain or that due to gout. The way he suggested using them was to combine them with butter and rub it on the afflicted area, “…but they work more effectually if Mallows be added thereto”. 4 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! 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 Using Daisies medicinally is most commonly achieved by infusing the dried flowerheads in oil or water. The oil can be used to make ointments or creams for external/topical use. The infusion in water can be used internally as a tea. The flowerheads themselves have a slightly metallic taste. | Credit: Helen Miller 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’.

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. 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.

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. 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! Bruton-Seal, J. and Seal, M. (2017) Wayside Medicine: Forgotten plants and how to use them, Merlin Unwin Books, Ludlow, Shropshire, UK. A later study found seven new saponins (constituents that have soap-like attributes and lower surface tension) in Daisy flowers. These saponins promote collagen synthesis, without any toxic side-effects. Collagen is the main structural constituent of skin. Therefore, the finding that Daisies contribute to collagen synthesis would explain why they have been used in wound healing. The actual mechanism of how this works, however, is still not known. 8 One type of saponin in Daisy flowers has also been found to inhibit tumours. 7 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.

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’. 2