Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Daisy (Bellis perennis) is the small white-and-yellow flower that grows in European lawns and meadows. In French it is called pâquerette. Folk healers used it mainly on bruises, bumps and small wounds.
It is sold today as a dried flowering herb for tea, as a tincture, in creams and infused oils, and as homeopathic pellets. Some people still eat the young leaves in salad. It is often called "poor man's arnica".
Here is the honest verdict. Human evidence for daisy is very thin, and no good trial supports any medical use. Long use in folk medicine is not proof that a herb works, and it is not proof that it is safe.
No one has shown in people how daisy works, or that it works at all.
Daisy contains saponins, which are soap-like plant compounds. In test tubes, saponins from Bellis perennis slow the growth of some bacteria and fungi. Whether that happens on human skin is not known.
In cell and animal studies, daisy extracts appear to lower some markers of swelling. These are early findings. They do not show that a daisy cream makes a bruise fade faster.
Folk use rested on the idea that daisy "draws out" bruising, much as arnica was said to. That idea has not been tested properly in people.
The saponins also make the plant taste bitter and foam in water. That is likely why old recipes used it as a cough and gargle herb.
Daisy is sold in a few simple forms. Strength varies a lot between brands, since there is no agreed standard extract.
- Dried flowering herb, loose or in tea bags, for an infusion - Tincture, an alcohol extract taken in drops - Cream, salve or infused oil for use on unbroken skin - Homeopathic Bellis perennis pellets or gel, which are very dilute - Fresh young leaves and flower heads, eaten in salad in some regions
Homeopathic products are not the same as herbal ones. They contain little or no plant material, and their claimed effects are not supported by good evidence.
Daisy was a wound and bruise herb in European folk practice for centuries. One old English name was bruisewort.
Medieval and early modern herbalists applied crushed leaves or an infused oil to knocks, sprains and sore joints. Writers such as Culpeper in the 1600s listed it for wounds and for inward bruising. Country healers also gave the tea for coughs, catarrh and sluggish digestion.
In the 1800s daisy entered homeopathic practice, where it was used after surgery, childbirth and falls. Its reputation there was built on practitioner reports, not on trials.
These uses are recorded history. They are not a recommendation to treat yourself with daisy today.
Call emergency services now if your lips, tongue or throat swell, if you come out in hives, or if you struggle to breathe. These are signs of a severe allergic reaction.
Stop daisy and see a doctor if any of these happen:
- A rash that spreads, blisters or weeps - A wound that turns red, hot or leaks pus, or a fever - Repeated vomiting, diarrhoea or stomach pain - A bruise that does not fade within about two weeks - Easy bruising or bleeding with no clear cause - A cough that lasts more than three weeks, or coughing up blood
Also speak to a pharmacist before you start daisy if you take any regular prescription medicine.
In the UK and the EU, daisy is sold as a herbal tea or food supplement. It is not licensed as a medicine for any condition. Homeopathic Bellis perennis may be registered as a homeopathic product, which does not mean it has been shown to work. In the United States it is sold as a dietary supplement, and the FDA does not approve such products for treating disease.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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