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Bellis perennis

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bellis perennis ( /bɛləs pəˈrɛnəs/),[2][3] the daisy, is a European species of the family Asteraceae, often considered the archetypal species of the name daisy. To distinguish this species from other plants known as daisies, it is sometimes qualified or known as common daisy, lawn daisy or English daisy.

Description [edit]

Bellis perennis is a perennial herbaceous plant growing to 20 centimetres (8 inches) in height.[4] It has short creeping rhizomes and rosettes of small rounded or spoon-shaped leaves that are from 2 to 5 cm (3⁄4–2 in) long and grow flat to the ground. The species habitually colonises lawns, and is difficult to eradicate by mowing, hence the term 'lawn daisy'. It blooms from March to September[4] and exhibits the phenomenon of heliotropism, in which the flowers follow the position of the sun in the sky.

The flowerheads are composite, about 2 to 3 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄4 in) in diameter, in the form of a pseudanthium, consisting of many sessile flowers with white ray florets (often tipped red) and yellow disc florets. Each inflorescence is borne on a single leafless stem 2 to 10 cm (3⁄4–4 in), rarely 15 cm (6 in) tall. The capitulum, or disc of florets, is surrounded by two rows of green bracts known as "phyllaries".[5] The achenes are without pappus.[6]

Etymology

Bellis may come from bellus, Latin for "pretty", and perennis is Latin for "everlasting".[7]

The name "daisy", possibly originating with this plant,[4] is considered a corruption of "day's eye",[8] because the whole head closes at night and opens in the morning. Geoffrey Chaucer called it "eye of the day". In Medieval times, Bellis perennis or the English Daisy was commonly known as "Mary's Rose".[9]

Historically, the plant has also been widely known as bruisewort, and occasionally woundwort (although this name is now more closely associated with the genus Stachys). It is also known as bone flower.[10]