Ox-Eye Daisy
is a perennial prostrate herb with small flower head (not larger than 5 cm) that consists of about 20 white ray flowers and numerous yellow disc flowers, growing on the end of the stem. The stem is mostly unbranched and sprouts laterally from a creeping rootstock.
The leaves are darkgreen on both sides. The basal and middle leaves are petiolate, obovate to spoon-shaped, and serrate to dentate. The upper leaves are shorter, sessile and borne along the stem.
It produces an abundant number of flat seeds without pappus. It spreads also vegetatively by rooting underground stems.
The Ox-Eye Daisy is a typical meadow flower, growing in a variety of plant communities such as dry fields, meadows, but also under scrubs, open-canopy forests and waste places. It thrives in a wide range of conditions and prefers heavy and damp soils.
Back to Top
Leaves - raw or cooked. The young spring shoots are finely chopped and added to salads. Rather pungent, they should be used sparingly or mixed with other salad plants.
The un-opened buds can be marinated and used in a similar way to capers.
The flower is also used in the game "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not."
Back to Top
