The Daisy Family (Compositae)
	Family Description	The Daisy Family is one of the most successful of all the flowering plant families. All of the plants in this group produce a flower head, which is actually made up of lots and lots of tiny flowers (florets) growing together in a disc-shape. They are mainly insect-pollinated. This family group includes the soft daisies and dandelions, as well as the prickly thistles.
	The word 'Daisy' comes from "Day's Eye". It is the name given to several species of this family, including the Daisy and Ox-eye Daisy, because it closes up at night and opens in the daytime, like an eye.
		From the Daisy Family, you can now explore Ox-eye Daisy Daisy Dandelion
	Ox-eye Daisy Chrysanthemum leucanthemum	This large attractive Daisy has flowering stems up to two feet high. It is also known as Marguerite and is cultivated throughout Britain to be sold in flower shops. The large flower heads have a circle of white outer petals and a yellow disc of florets in the centre. It can form large carpets of white in meadows and roadside edges.
	Habitat	Grassy habitats, roadsides, hayfields, open woodland and woodland pathways. Limestone or slightly acid soils.
	Special features	The outer petals are large, white and strap-shaped. The stems are rigid and often branched.
	Reproduction	Ox-eye Daisy is pollinated by various insects.
	Distribution	Seasonal Flowering takes place from June to September.
	Folklore	Daisies were often used in medicine. The sticky leaves were thought to help wounds to heal.
	Fun Fact	The Ox-eye Daisy was also known as Baby's Pet, Miss.Modesty and Twelve Disciples.
	Daisy Bellis perennis	This is the smallest daisy. It is known as a dwarf perennial. This is the daisy that we often see on lawns and fields. It has white petals and a disc of yellow florets in the centre. People often pick these flowers to make daisy chains. The undersides of the little white petals are tinted with deep purple towards their tips.
	Habitat	It is common on lawns and grows in grassy places, especially where the grass is kept short my mowing, or by grazing animals.
	Special features	The leaves are oblong or spoon-shaped. The flowers grow on long, slender stalks, which makes it possible to make daisy chains. Because it is so small, it is largely undamaged by grazing or mowing.
	Reproduction	Insects pollinate these flowers.
	Distribution	Seasonal It flowers throughout most of the year, from March to October. Geographical Throughout Britain.
	Folklore	People have held the daisy with great affection for many years. Chaucer, an English medieval poet (who lived around 600 years ago) wrote about it in a poem called "The Legend of a Good Woman". In the original old English, it reads: "… That, of alle the floures in the mede, Than love I most these floures white and rede, Swiche as men callen daysies in our town. To hem have I so greet affeccioun, As I seyde erst, when comen in the May, Than in my bed ther daweth me no day That I nam up and walking in the mede To seen this flour agein the sonne sprede, Whan hit upryseth erly by the morwe; That blisful sighte sofneth al my sorwe." Roughly translated, this reads: "Of all the flowers in the meadow, I love these red and white flowers the most, Such as men call daisies in our town, For them, I have great affection, When May comes, Before dawn, I am up and walking in the meadow, To see this flower again That blissful sight chases away all my sorrow."
	Fun Fact	A famous English physician, called Culpeper, once wrote: "The Daisy is so well known to almost every child, that I suppose it is altogether needless to write any description."