The crazy-making daisy

Leucanthemum vulgare, August 3, 2021

Leucanthemum vulgare, August 3, 2021

L. vulgate’s diagnostic phyllaries, August 3, 2021

L. vulgate’s diagnostic phyllaries, August 3, 2021

Common & scientific name
Oxeye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Roadside everywhere up to 11,800’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
YES, they’re pretty, YES, they’re cheery, YES, you may stop, look, and enjoy them.  Then do your part for our native wildflowers and pull them!  Oxeyes are a highly invasive perennial that LOVE disturbed places like roadsides—even a fresh layer of asphalt won’t dissuade them!  A single plant can produce up to 200 seeds per flowering head, sitting atop up to 40 flowering stems per plant—that leads to a ginormous seed bank.   Leucanthemum vulgare is native to Europe and was introduced into the United States as an ornamental in the 1800s. In the 2000s, it is the bane of Independence Pass.