What Does It Look Like?
What is it?
Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) is an erect perennial herb growing to 1 m high with a creeping underground rootstock that can produce new plants. The first rosette leaves produced are arranged in a basal rosette. Leaves are 20–80 mm long sometimes bigger, 10–20 mm wide sometimes bigger, oblanceolate (lance shaped, about 4 times as long as broad, broadest in the upper half, tapering to a narrow base), obovate (egg-shaped attached at the thinner end) to spathulate (spoon-shaped, broad at the tip and narrowed towards the base) in outline, margins irregularly toothed to shallowly 1- or 2-pinnatifid (divided). Rosette leaves with a stalk, margins irregularly toothed to shallowly 1- or 2-pinnatifid, pubescent (downy; covered with short, soft, erect hairs) with simple and glandular hairs, these leaves soon wither when the main stem is produced. Stem leaves are similar in shape to rosette leaves but normally smaller and are shallowly lobed to toothed, to almost entire on upper leaves. Leaves near the base are hairy, but hairless above. The rosette and lower stem leaves are long stalked, and upper leaves steam clasping.
The flower-heads are long stalked, in groups of one to three at the ends of the stems. They are 3–5 cm in diameter, with a ring of 15–30 white ray florets surrounding the closely packed central yellow florets.
The fruits or 'seeds' (cypselas) are dark brown, grey or black with pale ribs, 1.5–2.5 mm long, and lack an apical tuft of hairs (Jeanes 1999; Parsons & Cuthbertson 2001). Seeds varying from flower edge to centre. Seeds around the edge of the flower head sometimes compressed, with about 10-ribs with extended lateral ribs, pappus (a tuft of hairs on top of the seed) an irregular crown. Seeds in the middle of the flower 10-ribbed, lacking a pappus.
For further information and assistance with the identification of Ox-eye Daisy, contact the herbarium in your state or territory.
Flower colour
Yellow and White
Growth form (weed type/habit)
Herb
Where it currently grows? Preferred habitat
Ox-eye Daisy occurs most commonly in cool temperate zones, usually on water retentive soils. It is virtually confined to areas with annual rainfall in excess of 750 mm, in disturbed areas such as roadsides, cleared land and overgrazed pastures, Eucalypt woodlands including snowgum woodlands and open stringy bark, sub-alpine grasslands, wetlands, areas that have been burnt. (DPI NSW 2019; Jeanes 1999; Parsons & Cuthbertson 2001).
Are there similar species?
The related Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum), also grown as a garden ornamental and naturalised in southern Australia, differs from Ox-eye Daisy in having larger (5-8 mm sometimes to 12mm diameter), solitary flower-heads and larger leaves that are regularly finely toothed (Jeanes 1999).
Ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) has toothed or lobed leaves and moderately sized flower-heads (20-60 mm across).
Similar to Stinking Mayweed (Anthemis cotula), which has smaller flowers and finely divided leaves.