204 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
be a corruption of Day’s eye, in allusion to the flower being so abundant as to be seen wherever there was light; 
or, in other words, the eye of day. The word Beilis is taken from hellus , pretty. 
GENUS XVI. 
THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. (Chrysanthemum, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. SYNGENESIA SUPERFLUA. 
Generic Character. —Involucrum hemispherical, imbricated ; scales scarious at the margin. Flowers radiant. Receptacle naked. 
Pappus none, or a short membrane. ( Lindley .) 
Description, &c. —This is a well-known and very handsome genus ; as well for the beautiful Chinese 
species cultivated in our gardens and greenhouses, as for the scarcely less beautiful kinds found in our fields. 
The name of Chrysanthemum signifies literally golden flower, and must, therefore, have been first applied to 
one of the yellow kinds. The genus is in the same Linnoaan class and order as the preceding one. 
* Rays white. 
1.—THE GREAT WHITE OX-EYE, OR MOON DAISY. (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 601; 2nd ed., t. 1171 ; and our fig. 2, in PI. 42. 
Specific Character. —Leaves clasping the stem, oblong, obtuse, cut; pinnatifid at the base ; radical ones obovate, stalked. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —This very handsome plant is common in every part of England, growing by the road¬ 
side, in corn-fields, or in other cultivated land through which there is a path ; but it will only grow in dry and 
somewhat rich soil. It is a perennial, and produces its large handsome flowers in June and July. 
2.— THE FEVERFEW. (Chrysanthemum Parthenium, Lindl.) 
Synonymes. —Pyrethrum Parthenium, Smith ; Matricaria Parthe- I Specific Character. —Leaves stalked, compound, flat ; leaflets 
nium, Lin. j ovate, cut; the uppermost confluent. Flower-stalks corymbose. 
Engravings. — Eng. Bot., t. 1231 ; 2nd ed., t. 1173. i Stem erect. Rays shorter than the diameter of the disk. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —The Feverfew was formerly found in almost every garden, as it was reckoned an almost 
infallible remedy against the ague, a disease with which our ancestors appear to have been much more frequently 
troubled than we are at the present day. The Feverfew is very bitter when tasted, and smells strongly ; but 
in other respects it well deserves a place in every garden. The plant is a biennial, and produces its flowers in 
June and July. 
3.— THE MAYWEED. (Chrysanthemum inodorum, Lin.) 
Synonymes —Pyrethrum inodorum, Smith ; Matricaria inodora, 
Lin.; Corn Feverfew ; Scentless Mayweed. 
Engravings —Eng. Bot., t. 676 ; 2nd ed., t. 1174. 
Specific Character. —Leaves sessile, pinnate, in numerous, capil¬ 
lary, pointed segments. Stem branched, spreading. Pappus entire. 
(Lindley.) 
Description, &c.— This species is very distinct from the common Feverfew, not only from the largeness of 
its flowers, but from the great length of the florets of the ray and the conical disk. The leaves are particularly 
beautiful in this species, from their ham-like segments. The plant is an annual, and flowers in August and 
September. 
The Sea-side Feverfew (C. maritimum) is probably only a variety of this species. 
