January 28th: Daisy Day

10 things you may not know about daisies:

1. The word "Daisy" derives from "day's eye", which is a reference to the fact that daisy flowers open in the morning and close at night. The Latin name is Bellis perennis. Bellis is Latin for "pretty" and perennis is Latin for "everlasting". Chaucer called it "eye of the day".
2. Historically, it has also been known by the rather less attractive names "bruisewort" or "woundwort". In Medieval times, the Daisy was commonly known as "Mary's Rose", possibly because it was said that the flowers sprang from the tears of Mary Magdalene, and the flowers were dedicated to her. 
3. The ancients dedicated it to Artemis, the goddess of women.
4. Although the flower of the daisy looks like a single flower, in fact, each one is made up of many flowers. Each petal is a flower, and the yellow centre is made up of many tiny flowers.
5. You can eat them! In fact, they are a good source of Vitamin C. Young leaves, buds and petals can be eaten in salads, added to soups or made into teas.
6. They have also been used historically as medicine for indigestion, coughs, backache, insanity, smallpox, jaundice, skin disease, eye problems and even tumours. King Henry VIII ate daisies to relieve pain from a stomach ulcer. It was also used in Wales in the Middle Ages to test whether a patient would live or die. The patient would be given ground up daisy flowers in wine. If the drink made the patient sick, he would die. If not, he would survive. Assyrians believed that if you crushed daisies and mixed them with oil and put it on your hair, the mixture could turn grey hair dark again.
7. Daisies are found everywhere on Earth except Antarctica.
8. In the language of flowers, daisies are the symbol of innocence, purity and truth. They have also been used as a confession of love when given by one person to another. Medieval knights would go into battle wearing garlands of daisies given to them by their sweethearts. They can also represent secrets, and giving one to another person it could mean passing a secret to them.
9. An ancient Celtic legend says that daisies came from the spirits of children who died at birth. To ease the grief of their parents, God sprinkled the flowers all over the earth.
10. There is an old English saying that spring has not come until you can set your foot on twelve daises.

Picture: Alessandro Zangrilli