Species of the day: Ox-eye Daisy

James Duncan
, 29 May 2020
Species of the day: Ox-eye Daisy
Ox-eye Daisies © Roger Wilmshurst

By James Duncan

Learning & Engagement Officer

From late spring, the beautiful blooms of the humble Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) transform grassy areas into magical carpets of vivid white and gold. Members of the Daisy family are quite likely to be the very first flowers recognised in early life - though a common native species it's hard not to appreciate the ox-eye's simple splash of colour along roadsides, embankments and scrubby edges. It's a hardy perennial, a characteristic plant of poor-quality, degraded soils and may be found in habitats ranging from churchyards to sea cliffs. Known alternatively as 'moon' and 'field' daisy, it belongs to one of the very largest families of flowering plants, the Asteraceae or 'Composite' family - this is only rivalled in size by the Orchid family. Though the flowers are similar to the typical Daisy (Bellis perennis), they're easily distinguished for the flowers of ox-eye are almost triple the size.   

Many of the plant's common names relate to its obvious resemblance to that of an eye. In fact, the very naming of 'daisy' arises from 'day's eye', suggesting the opening of the flowers in daylight and closure at night. Its 'moon daisy' moniker may stem from its perceived ability to glow vividly on bright summer evenings, and both of these provide the likely origin for the common phrase "fresh as a daisy." The scientific name translates quite simply to 'common white flower.' Love divination has always had strong, traditional associations with both the Ox-eye and typical Daisy, displayed in modern times through the game 'he loves me, he loves me not.' Interestingly, the 'flower' of the ox-eye is in a fact a large number of individual flowers known as florets. Each head has a number of yellow 'disc florets', which have no petals, contain both male and female parts and do the job of both receiving pollination and producing seed. The ring of white 'ray florets' serve as an attractant to enhance pollination, but produce no seed. When they do bear seed, it's truly on an epic scale for one plant may produce tens of thousands, helping them to spread far and wide.

The Ox-eye Daisy is also responsible for the creation of vast quantities of pollen - studies have shown it to be one of the highest-ranked producers within British wildflower meadows. Indeed, they really are an iconic species of our ravaged meadows, a habitat that's dramatically declined by 97% since the end of the second world war. The Ox-eye Daisy makes a grand floral statement like few others, its easy-growing nature making it one of the first to re-colonise. It's very much the 'bread and butter' of the wildflower meadow, the staple of natural re-generation. Of course, ultimately it's a diversity of plant communities that are the most desirable, avoiding the uniformity that's now such a common sight in our countryside. This doesn't alter the fact that Ox-eye Daisy is a simply superb source of pollen and nectar, perhaps one of the most important of all. It serves a pivotal ecological function, utilised by a plethora of invertebrates including beetles, bees, ants, butterflies, moths, flies and many more, all of whom can take advantage of its substantial yellow 'landing-pad.'

Oxeye1

Ox-eye Daisy © James Duncan

Leave a comment

Comments

  • clare:

    Cheered by these yesterday on a drive out.. so many on the verge (driving out of Brighton)

    31 May 2020 13:47:00

  • Caroline Evely:

    How long does the flower last ?

    14 Jan 2023 14:42:00

  • Sussex Wildlife Trust:

    Well, the plants flower from May-Sept approx, but as for individual plants/flowers, that's guesswork...!

    Probably 4-6 weeks for a plant in total. Perhaps a week or so for individual flowers?

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783190346.31390 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783190346.36390.05Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783190346.3640.0001Server address: 216.73.217.177
1783190346.36410Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783190346.36410Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/species-of-the-day-ox-eye-daisy
    [s] => species-of-the-day-ox-eye-daisy
    [1] => species-of-the-day-ox-eye-daisy
)
1783190346.36440.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783190346.36510.0007 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783190346.3670.0019 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783190346.36750.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783190346.36870.0012 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22623315
1783190346.36920.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22623315
1783190346.36970.0005 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-04 18:39:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-04 18:39:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783190346.37110.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='species-of-the-day-ox-eye-daisy')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 18:39:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783190346.37450.0034 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783190346.37510.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2177 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 18:39:00'
1783190346.37580.0007 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783190346.37640.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783190346.37690.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=191 LIMIT 1
1783190346.37730.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=51 LIMIT 1
1783190346.37780.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783190346.3780.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783190346.37890.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 18:39:00' AND postSlug='species-of-the-day-ox-eye-daisy'
1783190346.42070.0418Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783190346.42120.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783190346.42260.0014Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783190346.42280.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783190346.4240.0011 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783190346.42570.0017 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783190346.42870.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783190346.42920.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783190346.43110.0019Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783190346.43110 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783190346.43190.0007 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783190346.43230.0004 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783190346.43490.0026 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783190346.43590.001 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783190346.43660.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783190346.43960.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783190346.44030.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783190346.44230.002 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783190346.44280.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783190346.44310.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='19' LIMIT 1
1783190346.44380.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783190346.44420.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='species-of-the-day-ox-eye-daisy')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 18:39:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783190346.4460.0019 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783190346.44660.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783190346.44840.0019Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783190346.44930.0009 [2] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2177 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783190346.49770.0484 [2] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783190346.49850.0008Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783190346.49870.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='19' LIMIT 1
1783190346.49970.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783190346.50050.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783190346.50120.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783190346.50380.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783190346.50440.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783190346.50660.0021 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783190346.5090.0024 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783190346.50970.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783190346.51010.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783190346.51250.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783190346.51310.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783190346.51850.0053 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783190346.52220.0037 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783190346.5230.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783190346.52350.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783190346.52630.0028 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783190346.52680.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783190346.53010.0032 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783190346.53290.0028 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783190346.53380.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783190346.53440.0006 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783190346.53680.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783190346.53740.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783190346.53940.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783190346.54090.0015Request time: 0.2301
1783190346.54090Process time: 0.23
1783190346.54090Memory: 1.6315