43 FLOWERS. 



rope ; and it is this lovely plant that has formed the 

 theme of many a poet's song. Wordsworth's three 

 beautiful poems are too familiar to be quoted. Spen- 

 ser sang of the " little daisie that at evening closes ;" 

 while Chaucer and Ben Jonson each had a good 

 word for the bright " day's eye." 



What is commonly called the daisy in this country 

 is a species of Chrysanthemum : it is also of foreign 

 origin, and is one of those plants whose beauty hardly 

 repays for the trouble it gives the farmer, as it in- 

 creases so rapidly, both by its roots and seed, that 

 where it once obtains a footing, it soon spreads over 

 whole fields, thus preventing the growth of that which 

 is more valuable. It is considered by the Danes to 

 be so injurious to the pasture, that one of the laws 

 of Denmark compels the farmers on whose land it 

 appears, to use every effort to eradicate it. 



There is also another variety of plants to which 

 the name of Michaelmas daisy has been applied in 

 England; they consist of various kinds of asters, 

 some of which have been introduced there from 

 America and China. These are among the last 

 flowers of summer, even blooming until late in the 

 autumn. Some of them are possessed of great beauty ; 

 the well-known China Aster, or Queen Marguerite, is 

 among their number. 



The flowers of the daisies are what are termed 

 compound, or similar to those of the dog- wood. The 

 beautiful white, blue, or rose-tinted petals, which are 

 so conspicuous, are the rays of the involucre, and it 

 is in the centre of these where the compact mass of 



