110 



SUNFLOWERS AND DAISIES. 



The dayesye or elles the eye of day, 

 The emperice and flour of floures alle. 



— Chaucer, Good Women, I. 184. 



The sunflowers are mostly large, erect, 

 perennial herbs, with the flowers char- 

 acteristic of the order Compositae. They 

 are natives of tropical America, but have 

 become widely distributed in cultivation, 

 appreciated on account of their large yel- 

 low flowers. They not only thrive very 

 luxuriantly under cultivation, but spread 

 •very quickly spontaneously. Every one 

 is familiar with the sunflower as it ap- 

 pears in cultivation, hence no special de- 

 scription shall be given of it. It is kin to 

 the iron w^eed, the dandelion, the golden 

 rods, the asters and the daisies. 



It would be impracticable to describe 

 or mention all the species and varieties of 

 sunflowers and their numerous relatives. 

 We shall refer very briefly to a few of the 

 more common kinds. Helianthus an- 

 nuus is a commonly cultivated species. 

 The seeds of this plant furnish a very use- 

 ful oil ; the flowers yield honey and a use- 

 ful dye ; the stalks a textile fabric and the 

 leaves fodder. The seeds of this and 

 other species are also used as food, and 

 as a surrogate for coffee. The carefully 

 dried and prepared leaves have been used 

 as a substitute for tobacco in cigars. 

 Poultry eat the seeds very greedily and 

 thrive well upon them, due to the oil pres- 

 ent. It is also maintained that a large 

 number of sunflowers about a dwelling 

 place will serve as a protection against 

 malaria. An infusion of the stem is said 

 to be anti-malarial. 



H. tuberosus, known as the Jerusalem 

 artichoke, has large tuberous roots which 

 are sometimes eaten when cooked or 



pickled. Several species are said to have 

 decided medicinal properties. H. odora 

 is said to be carminative, diuretic, stimu- 

 lant and antemetic. H. rigida is tonic 

 and astringent. H. virgaurea of both 

 continents is also astringent and tonic. 

 In the eclectic school of medicine the in- 

 fusion of seeds is used as a mild expector- 

 ant, and the expressed oil as a diuretic. 

 The diuretic properties are said to be due 

 to nitre, which occurs most plentifully in 

 the central pith of the stalks. 



The medicinal virtues of the sunflowers 

 are very limited and uncertain. Their 

 principal use is that of a showy garden 

 plant. That they check or prevent ma- 

 laria is quite probable, because of their 

 draining eftect upon the soil rather than 

 any medicinal property residing in the 

 plants themselves. 



The daisies, of which the oxeye daisy is 

 a well-known example, are garden and 

 field favorites. As already indicated, they 

 are kin to the sunflowers. The word 

 daisy is a contraction of the old English 

 words "dayes eye," that is, the eye of day, 

 meaning the sun, as indicated in the verse 

 from Chaucer. There are a great many 

 flowers known as daisies and again a 

 given one has a number of popular 

 names. For instance, Rudbeckia hirta 

 (see illustration) is variously designated 

 yellow daisy, black-eyed Susan, nigger 

 head, golden Jerusalem and oxeye daisy. 



The two plates illustrate the tall or 

 giant sunflower (H. giganteus) and the 

 daisy just referred to. 



Albert Schneider. 



