Leucanthemum vulgare Lam., Oxeye Daisy

Account Summary

Growth form and preferred habitats

This very familiar, shallow-rooted, rhizome-bearing, almost hairless, wintergreen perennial, produces erect branching stems, 30-80 cm tall, carrying large, white and yellow, 'daisy'-like terminal flowerheads on long stalks. Basal leaves are ± spoon-shaped, bluntly toothed, on long stalks, while stem leaves are narrowly oblong to linear, sessile, deeply toothed and with ears (auricles) at their base where they clasp the stem (Melderis & Bangerter 1955; Hutchinson 1972; Perring & Walters 1989).

A common plant of grassy meadows and pastures, field margins and roadside banks, L. vulgare is particularly associated with herb-rich open habitats over base-rich soils of pH greater than 5.0 and of low to medium fertility, especially when the habitat is subject to a moderate degree of regular disturbance (Grime et al. 1988, 2007). Having said this, L. vulgare displays wide edaphic tolerance over its large geographical range and while primarily basophile, it is also, but less commonly, found on acid soils (Howarth & Williams 1968). It is also very tolerant of drought and frost which is reflected in its established strategy which is characterised as C-S-R/CR, meaning it is intermediate between a balance of all three plant growth and survival strategies, Competitor, Stress-tolerator and Ruderal, and life as a Competitive Ruderal (Grime et al. 1988, 2007).

Locally, Oxeye Daisy frequents dry, stony, generally calcareous soils in grassland, cliffs, screes, quarries, roadsides and waste ground. This combination of habitat and environmental conditions curtails the growth of potential dominants and thus allows many plant species to co-exist. L. vulgare avoids, woodland shade, maritime and wet communities and is only rarely found in cultivated ground (Howarth & Williams 1968). It is effectively excluded from productive, undisturbed vegetation by more vigorous competitive species (Grime et al. 1988, 2007).

Before silage became the agricultural fodder of choice, when hay meadows were still common, L. vulgare was a frequent field weed, being able to compete with grasses due to its rapid spring growth and early summer seed production. Oxeye Daisy also occurs in moderately grazed pastures and, despite all parts of the plant containing an acrid sap, it is grazed by horses, sheep and goats, although generally avoided by cattle and pigs which appear to find it too bitter for their taste (Grieve 1931; Howarth & Williams 1968). The species performance in grassland is limited by grazing, trampling or cutting, which curtails both its vegetative patch-forming ability and the level of seed set.

Variation

L. vulgare forms part of a polyploidy series with chromosome numbers 2n=18, 36 and 54 being the main members. It appears that in Europe, diploids (2n=18) prevail in the N & W, and tetraploids in the S & E plus in the mountains of the south (Böcher & Larsen 1957). Both types occur intermixed in C Europe and intermingling in other areas are believed to be due to introductions by man (Howarth & Williams 1968). Tetraploids replace diploids in N & E Britain, while in the S & W tetraploids only occur in sites where there is heavy metal pollution (Grant & Whitebrook 1983).

Fermanagh occurrence

L. vulgare is present in 289 tetrads, 54.7% of the total in the VC. However, it does not occur in populations as large as perhaps it did previously when arable agriculture was significant and when pastures were given less fertilizer than is now commonly applied. The species is widespread throughout Fermanagh, although entirely absent from acid peat, woodlands and wetter soils.

Flowering reproduction

Oxeye Daisy flowers from May to August, or in mild conditions into September. Flowerheads are large, 25-60(-75) mm in diameter and are produced solitary on long, glabrous peduncles (Sell & Murrrell 2006). Ray-florets, about 15 in number, white, 12-30 mm, female. Disc-florets, numerous, tubular, bisexual, 3-5 mm, yellow, arranged on a conical receptacle.

Estimates of achene production vary considerably. Studies of meadow grown plants by Salisbury (1942) found that they bore a mean number of 14.1 inflorescences per plant and that each flower-head usually produced about 200 achenes, giving a total of around 2,800 fruits per plant. Dorph-Petersen (1925) recorded that an ungrazed plant of L. vulgare usually produced between 1,300-4,000 fruits, but vigorous individuals could produce up to 26,000.

Although the achene fruits have no pappus, nor any alternative specialized dispersal mechanism, the large numbers of small, light propagules alone seems sufficient to enable the species to readily colonise patches of bare ground in suitable open habitats. Most fruits germinate either in the autumn they are shed, or in the following spring and, although there does not appear to be any specialized dormancy mechanism, some (perhaps only a small proportion) can remain dormant for long periods, eg 1% were still viable after 39 years (Toole & Brown 1946).

Achenes are, or previously were, commonly dispersed as an impurity of grass and crop seed mixtures, as well as in transported hay and manure. Less than 40% of seed passing through the gut of cows remain viable (Howarth & Williams 1968).

Vegetative reproduction

Although the plant possesses a shallow rhizome and often is loosely tufted, it appears to have only limited ability to spread vegetatively and root to produce clonal growth. Most vegetative patches are small and grazing pressure appears important to encourage horizontal spread. In meadows and in more open habitats, sexual reproduction and seedling colonisation is more important than spread by vegetative means (Howarth & Williams 1968).

British and Irish occurrence

L. vulgare is common and extremely widespread throughout B & I, although less so in the extreme north of both islands. The BSBI Atlas 2020 hectad map shows it is almost ubiquitous at that level of discrimination, absent only from the highest ground, although it does in fact reach an altitude of 825 m at Great Dun Fell in Westmorland (VC 69).

Part of the reason for the near total hectad distribution is the fact that L. vulgare is a common ingredient of so-called 'wild-flower seed mixtures', very widely sown by gardeners and local district councils. These seed mixtures generally include robust, vigorous varieties of L. vulgare of non-native provenance that can become dominant in sown grasslands and produce a spectacular display for a short time. There is now increasing difficulty in distinguishing native from alien populations across B & I.

Despite this upsurge in distribution, the data for the BSBI Atlas 2020 indicate a significant downward trend in presence of the species in both B & I (P.A. Stroh & H.J. Killick, in: Stroh et al. 2023).

European and world occurrence

Taken in the broad sense as L. vulgare s.l. or species complex, it is Eurosiberian boreo-temperate, widespread in Europe and W Asia and widely naturalised in both hemispheres (including N & S America, S Australia and New Zealand), so that the distribution is now circumpolar boreo-temperate (Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 1813).

Status

Polymorphic forms of Oxeye Daisy are also common throughout temperate and boreal Europe and the species was introduced with cultivation to N America and New Zealand (Howarth & Williams 1968). All post-glacial fossil evidence for the presence of the species in B & I comes from seed found in archaeological sites (Godwin 1975) and, therefore, the case for indigenous status is rather 'shaky' and certainly questionable.

Use and toxicity

Although Oxeye Daisy is not poisonous, the taste of the dried herb is bitter and tingling and it smells similar to Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) (Grieve 1931). It is still eaten as a salad vegetable in Italy, although its use was more extensive in the past (Howarth & Williams 1968). Despite its uninviting odour and taste, L. vulgare has been used in herbal medicine in the past as it has antispasmodic, diuretic and tonic properties. It is said to resemble Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) as a tonic and for treating night-sweats. An infusion of the flowers has been used to treat chronic coughs and bronchial catarrhs. Externally it was made into a lotion or ointment to treat wounds, bruises, ulcers, inflammation and skin diseases (Grieve 1931).

Names

The Greek genus name is was cited by Dioscorides and is a combination of 'leukos', 'white' and 'anthemon', 'flower' (Melderis & Bangerter 1955). The Latin specific epithet 'vulgare' simply means 'common'.

Grigson (1955, 1987) lists no less than 60 English common names, clear indication that the species is extremely well known throughout B & I. 'Oxeye Daisy' is an invented 'book name' first used in the 16th century. It is a translation of the medieval Latin 'Oculus bovis', synonym 'Buphthalmus', from the Greek 'Bouphthalmon', itself a combination of 'bous', 'ox' and 'ophthalmos', 'eye'. It is suggested that in Dioscorides time this name was applied to an unspecified member of the Asteraceae (Compositae) with yellow flowers, but the name has now been appropriated for a different genus (Prior 1879; Grigson 1974).

Another opinion is that Dioscorides' 'Ox-eye' was Adonis vernalis L. There is a lengthy disquisition as to the inaccuracy of this notion in Gerard (1633, pp. 746-8) where it is held, on the basis of its herbal healing powers in cattle, that the name 'Ox-eye' should properly be, and anciently was, applied to what we now call Chrysanthemum segetum (Corn Marigold).

Threats

None, except that native forms may interbreed with alien forms introduced in recent decades in wildflower seed mixtures. However, the boat has sailed on that issue and nothing can be done to remedy the situation.

References

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