Quick fact
Oxeye daisy is an invasive species.
- Oxeye daisy is found in disturbed fields and meadows.
- It out competes native plants and can carry crop diseases.
Oxeye daisies should be reported. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources provides detailed recommendations for reporting invasive species.
How to identify oxeye daisies
- Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) is a perennial herbaceous plant that smells like sage.
- It is a large (one to three feet tall) white daisy.
- One plant can produce 1–40 flowering stems.
Stem
- Thin one to three feet tall stem can branch to produce two or more flower heads.
Leaves
- Alternate, spoon-shaped, deeply cut and lobed or toothed.
- Leaves partially wrap around the stem.
- They decrease in size closer to top of stem.
Flowers
- White daisies with yellow central disc, two inches across.
- Blooms all summer.
Seeds
- Tufted, small (eight hundredths of an inch) flat seeds, dispersed by wind.
- Up to 200 per plant.
Roots
- Spread vegetatively via rhizomes.
Reviewed in 2019