BELLIS, the DAISY: A genus of the syngenesia order, belonging to the polygamia superflua class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, Compositæ discoides. The receptacle is naked and conic; there is no pappus; the calyx is hemispherical, with equal scales; and the seeds are o-vated.
Species, &c. 1. The perennis, with a naked stalk, having one flower. This is the common daisy, which grows naturally in pasture-lands in most parts of Europe. It is often a troublesome weed in the grass of gardens, so is never cultivated. Its leaves have a subtle subacid taste; and are recommended as vulneraries, and in asthmas and hectic fevers, as well as in such disorders as are occasioned by drinking cold liquors when the body has been much heated. Ludovici prefers this plant to those commonly used as antiscorbutics and resolvents of coagulated blood in hypochondriacal disorders. 2. The annua, with leaves on the lower part of the stalk, is a low annual plant growing naturally on the Alps and the hilly parts of Italy. It seldom rises more than three inches high; and hath an upright stalk garnished with leaves on the lower part; but the upper part is naked, supporting a single flower like that of the common daisy, but smaller. 3. The hertensis, or garden daisy, with a large double flower. This is generally thought to be only a variety of the common daisy; but Mr Miller assures us, that he was never able to improve the common daisy by culture, or to make the garden daisy degenerate into the common sort for want of it. The varieties of this species cultivated in gardens are, the red and white garden daisy; the double variegated garden daisy; the chiding, or hen and chicken garden daisy; and the cock's-comb daisy with red and white flowers. The garden daisies flower in April and May, when they make a pretty variety, being intermixed with plants of the same growth: they should
Bellis
Belliri.
be planted in a shady border, and a loamy soil without dung, in which they may be preserved without varying, provided the roots are parted and transplanted every autumn. This is all the culture they require, except keeping them free from weeds. Formerly they were planted as edgings to borders; but for this purpose they are improper, because when fully exposed to the sun, they frequently die in large patches, whereby the edgings become bald in many places.
Bellis Major. See CHRYSAOTHYNUM.