Flowers in Israel: Southern Daisy

Bellis sylvestris, Bellis silvestris, Southern Daisy,
Hebrew: חיננית הבתה, Arabic: البليس الحرجي

Scientific name:   Bellis sylvestris Cyrill.
Synonym name:   Bellis silvestris Cyrill.
Common name:   Southern Daisy
Hebrew name:   חיננית הבתה
Arabic name:   البليس الحرجي
Family:   Compositae (Asteraceae), מורכבים


Life form:   Hemicryptophyte, perennial, usually scapose
Stems:   30 cm; erect, basal branching, pubescent
Leaves:   Rosette, elongated spatulate with winged stalks; one central vein and several branching sub-veind
Inflorescence:   Capitula solitary
Flowers:   3-4 cm flower head diameter; yellow center made up by few hundreds of disc florets, and white radiating petals (ray florets); purple tipped petals
Fruits / pods:   Brown achenes without pappus; one-seeded, often tooth-shaped fruit without any wind disperal mechanism
Flowering Period:   January, February, March, November, December
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Bellis, Latin, bellus, pretty; the white daisy, ox-eye; Linnaeus: Bellis perennis.

sylvestris; sylva, woods, forest; sylvestris, of or belonging to the forest or woods, more correctly: silvestris, sometimes silvester; growing in the woods, wild.
The Hebrew word: חיננית, chenanit, a daisy, from חן, chen, grace, beauty.

  • The standard author abbreviation Cyrill. is used to indicate Domenico Maria Leone Cirillo; Italy, 1739-1799, an Italian physician and patriot.