The Great Daisy.

Botanical name: 

Bellis major.

A BEAUTIFUL and stately wild plant, which, if it were not frequent in our fields, would doubt less be esteemed in gardens. It grows to a foot high. The stalks are angulated slender, but firm and upright: the leaves are oblong, narrow, dented round the edges, and of a beautiful deep green. The flowers stand on the tops of the branches. They are white, and an inch broad; very like the white china starwort so much esteemed in our gardens. The root is slender.

The flowers are the part used. They are to be gathered when newly opened, and dried, and may afterwards be given in powder or infusion. They are good against coughs and shortness of breath, and in all disorders of the lungs. They are balsamic and strengthening.


The Family Herbal, 1812, was written by John Hill.