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Leucanthemum vulgare

Common name:	Ox-Eye Daisy	Family:	Compositae
Author:	Lam.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:	Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe, including Britain, from Lapland south and east to the Mediterranean and Siberia.
Habitat:	A common weed of grassy fields on all the better types of soil, avoiding acid soils and shade[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Cchrysanthemum leucanthemum[] Chrysanthemum leucanthemum var. boecheri[B,P] Chrysanthemum leucanthemum var. pinnatifidum[B,P] L. leucanthemum[B,P] L. vulgare var. pinnatifidum[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Butter Daisy [H], Daisy, Oxeye [S], Dun Daisy [H], Field Daisy [H], Gewone Margriet [D], Goldens [H], Great Ox-eye [H], Horse Gowan [H], Marguerite [L,H], Maudlin Daisy [H], Maudlinwort [H], Moon Daisy [H], Ox-eye Daisy [L], Oxe-Eye Daisy [S], Oxeye Daisy [H,S], Oxeye-daisy [B], Oxeyedaisy [P], Sirirgozu [E], White Daisy [L], White Margurite [H], White Oxeye [E], White Weed [H], White-weed [L],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	leucanthemum = white flowered; vulgare = common;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Britain(Wales); Turkey
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio, Washington, Wyoming, Victoria.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.6m. It is hardy to zone 3 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to August. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies, beetles and Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Meadow.

Edible Uses

Leaves; Root.

Leaves - raw or cooked[2, 115]. The young spring shoots are finely chopped and added to salads[4, 7, 183]. Rather pungent[9], they should be used sparingly or mixed with other salad plants[183].
Root - raw[5]. Used in spring[207].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antispasmodic; Antitussive; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Emmenagogue; Tonic; Vulnerary.

The whole plant, and especially the flowers[7], is antispasmodic, antitussive, diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, tonic and vulnerary[4, 7, 21]. It is harvested in May and June then dried for later use[4]. The plant has been employed successfully in the treatment of whooping cough, asthma and nervous excitability[4]. Externally it is used as a lotion on bruises, wounds, ulcers and some cutaneous diseases[4, 7]. A decoction of the dried flowers and stems has been used as a wash for chapped hands[257]. A distilled water made from the flowers is an effective eye lotion in the treatment of conjunctivitis[7].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Easily grown in a good garden soil in a sunny position[187]. Prefers a rich soil[17].
Plants are hardy to at least -20°c[187].
The whole plant is permeated with an acrid juice, making it obnoxious to insects[4]. The flowers have a smell like stale perspiration[245].
Grows well in the summer meadow but may need some help in maintaining itself[24].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.
Division in spring or autumn. Larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.
Basal cuttings in spring. Harvest the shoots when they are about 10cm long with plenty of underground stem. Pot them up into individual pots and keep them in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the summer.

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers have a smell like stale perspiration.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] SW USA Dist. Maps from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine

References for leucanthemum vulgare (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[24] Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden.
Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.

[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

Leucanthemum vulgare

Klaus Dichtel (allmendeperma@web.de) Wed Apr 10 18:46:12 2002

I tasted this spring the root as said by author "5": Fiddly, hard to clean from the sand, of course, (author "9":)pungent and hard to chew...

Leucanthemum vulgare

Klaus Dichtel (allmendeperma@web.de) Wed Jan 22 10:50:36 2003

The young shoots appear in autumn and remain green after the older overground parts disappear with the frosts. They remain green even down to at least -19�C, but are quite small (about 2-4cm squared). But they`re few, too, and so it doesn`t seem effective to me to cultivate bed-space for them.

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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