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Asteraceae
Ox-Eye Daisy
Leucanthemum vulgare
Innocence, purity, simple love.
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Genus
- Leucanthemum
- Native to
- Europe, temperate Asia
- Bloom season
- Late Spring, Summer
- Type
- Herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 30–90 cm
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low to moderate
- Hardiness
- 3–8
- Lifespan
- Short-lived perennial; reseeds prolifically
Did you know
- The ox-eye daisy is the original 'he loves me, he loves me not' flower of childhood — its evenly spaced petals were perfectly designed for petal-plucking divination.
- It's the wild ancestor of the larger garden Shasta daisy, which Luther Burbank bred from this species and three others in the late 1800s.
- Ox-eye daisies have naturalized so thoroughly across North America from European settlers that they're now considered both a beloved wildflower and a noxious weed depending on the region.
- The flowers slowly track the sun across the sky during the day — a behavior called heliotropism — and close their petals at night.
- It's the floral emblem of the United Kingdom's Suffragette movement of the early 1900s, often worn on banners and rosettes.
Color meanings
White
Loyal heart