Oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare 

 

 

 

Family – Asteraceae, Daisy family

Perennial, 20-80cm tall spread 50cm 

Flowering – May to August

Soil  - All soil types, acid to alkaline

Sun  - Full sun or partial shade

 

 

Considered by many as a symbol of mid-summer, oxeye daisy is common throughout the country in unimproved grassland, railway embankments, and roadside verges.

 

First formally recorded by Mathias L’Obel, in 1571 as Bellis major,^1. oxeye daisy is also known as Moon daisy, moon penny, dog daisy, marguerite and fried eggs in Somerset.^2. It does not feature in current day herbals, though Culpepper refers to it as a ‘wound herb of good respect’ often used in those drinks or salves that are for wounds either inward or outward.’^3.

 

Oxeye daisy is a colourful addition to gardens in well-drained neutral soils of reasonable fertility in full sun. In evening it has a lovely luminescent quality which attracts moths to its nectar. It is equally suitable for growing in rough grass with other meadow plants such as meadow or bulbous buttercup, common knapweed, small scabious, or growing in company of garden plants in a more formal border. It grows easily from seed – either directly in the ground or started off in trays and pots. Once established, if it seeds too freely in the habitat you have made for it, simply remove seedlings to pot up and give away or plant elsewhere in the garden.

 

The attractive open flowers of oxeye daisy act as a landing platform to many insects including butterflies in early to mid-summer such as the small tortoiseshell Aglais urticae and red admiral Vanessa atalanta. Beetles often seen on the flowers include the bright orange-red soldier beetle, Rhagonycha fulva and pollen-feeding beetles Oncomera femorata and thick-legged flower beetle Oedemera nobilis. Oxeye daisy is the main host plant for flies Oxyna nebulosa and Tephritis neesii, flies from the Tephritidae.^4. The adult fly, which feeds off the flowers, lays eggs on the flower head in which the larvae live and pupate. The adults have attractively patterned wings as with other flies in the Tephritidae, and are also known as picture-winged flies.  Although these flies are known to reduce seed production in some plant species, they are rarely seen to damage oxeye daisy. Oxeye daisy is also one of a range of food plants for the larvae of micro moths, Dichrorampha aeratana and D. plumbana^5., the larva of both feed on the roots.

 

 

1.   Pearman, D. (2017). The Discovery of the Native Flora of Britain and Ireland, A compilation of the first records for 1670 species and aggregates, covering Great Britain, Ireland, The Channel Isles and the Isle of Man. Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. p 255

 

2.  Vickery, R. (2019). Vickery’s Folk Flora, An A to Z of the Folklore and Uses of British and Irish Plants. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. London.

 

3.  Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician. Greenwich edition. 2003. London. p51

 

4.  See the Biological Record Centre database

 

5.  UK moths website  

 

 

Oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare 

 

 

 

 

 

First formally recorded by Mathias L’Obel, in 1571 as Bellis major,^1. oxeye daisy is also known as Moon daisy, moon penny, dog daisy, marguerite and fried eggs in Somerset.^2. It does not feature in current day herbals, though Culpepper refers to it as a ‘wound herb of good respect’ often used in those drinks or salves that are for wounds either inward or outward.’^3.

 

 

The attractive open flowers of oxeye daisy act as a landing platform to many insects including butterflies in early to mid-summer such as the small tortoiseshell Aglais urticae and red admiral Vanessa atalanta. Beetles often seen on the flowers include the bright orange-red soldier beetle, Rhagonycha fulva and pollen-feeding beetles Oncomera femorata and thick-legged flower beetle Oedemera nobilis. Oxeye daisy is the main host plant for flies Oxyna nebulosa and Tephritis neesii, flies from the Tephritidae.^4. The adult fly, which feeds off the flowers, lays eggs on the flower head in which the larvae live and pupate. The adults have attractively patterned wings as with other flies in the Tephritidae, and are also known as picture-winged flies.  Although these flies are known to reduce seed production in some plant species, they are rarely seen to damage oxeye daisy. Oxeye daisy is also one of a range of food plants for the larvae of micro moths, Dichrorampha aeratana and D. plumbana^5., the larva of both feed on the roots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  UK moths website