Leucanthemum vulgare (Oxeye Daisy)

Description

This knee-high heirloom perennial is the wild ancestor of the more finicky Shasta Daisy. It is covered with blooms in the Spring. www.illinois wilflower.info. reports that the nectar and pollen of the flowers attract a variety of insects, including small bees, flies, beetles, wasps, small butterflies, and skippers. The caterpillars of the moths Cnephasia longana (Omnivorous Leaf-Tier) and Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria (Blackberry Looper Moth) feed on the foliage. The numerous insects drawn to the plant make it a good hunting area for mother birds.  It thrives in full sun- part shade over sand or clay. Oxeye Daisies were introduced from Europe centuries ago. They have naturalized over wide areas of the US. In Coastal SC, they persist and spread around old homesites, but do not become invasive. We propagated our plants from a naturalized population in the I-95 right-of-way in Dorchester Co., SC. Aside from periodic mowing, these Oxeye Daisies have been growing without assistance, since I-95 was built in the ’60s or 70s.