Leucanthemum vulgare Lam.
oxeye daisy
Scarcely scented, perennial herb. Stems erect, up to c. 1 m tall, usually sparsely to densely villous below and glabrous above, rarely hairy or glabrous above and below, striate, simple or branched at base or sometimes above, rooting toward base. Basal and lower cauline lvs long-petiolate, elliptic, obovate or spathulate, obtuse at apex, cuneate, coarsely 1-2-serrate, crenate, or shallowly 1-(2)-pinnatifid, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hairy on petiole and midrib, very rarely moderately hairy, up to 12-(18) × 2-(4) cm; cauline lvs similar to basal but above becoming smaller, apetiolate, narrow-oblong, amplexicaul, with few distant teeth or sometimes entire, and often auriculate at base. Involucral bracts 3-8 mm long, glabrous; margins and apex brown, membranous; inner bracts with extended, broad, apical flap. Capitula solitary or few in corymbs, (25)-30-60-(65) mm diam.; ray florets (9)-18-33; ligules white; disc florets numerous, yellow. Achenes c. 2.5 mm long, dark brown with pale ribs; achenes of disc florets mostly ± terete, with 10 ± equal ribs, and corona 0; achenes of ray florets similar to those of disc florets, but sometimes flattened with lateral ribs somewhat extended, 3 ribs on outer surface and 5 ribs on inner surface, rarely achene 3-angled, sometimes with irregular corona c. 0.3 mm long.
N.; S.: throughout, lowland to montane; St.: Halfmoon Bay area; C.
Temperate Eurasia 1867
Waste places, especially roadsides, grasslands, riverbeds, and forest margins.
FL Aug-May.
The oxeye daisy is a common and conspicuous roadside weed. It varies somewhat in hairiness, and in the number, size, and shape of the ligules. Much of this variation can be seen within a single population, and all forms are easily distinguished from L. maximum. The achenes of Leucanthemum are usually described as homomorphic, however, in most plants of L. vulgare the achenes of the ray and disc florets are somewhat differentiated (Fig. 17). The sp. has been previously known in N.Z. as Chyrsanthemum leucanthemum.
