L. vulgare is a glabrous to sparsely pubescent shallow rooted perennial. Roots arise from a short creeping rootstock with many adventitious roots. Underground stems contain water soluble red pigments in the xylem and pith tissues and root tips may be red. Either short rhizomes or stout root-crowns may give rise to stems. Seedlings bear cotyledons that open above the soil surface;Stems are erect, simple or slightly branching, usually 1-2 per plant, but may form thick clusters. The stems are decumbent at their base, usually 30-90 cm in height reaching a maximum height of 2 m. Leaves are sparsely pubescent and three-nerved. Basal leaves are stalked, spatulate to obovate and irregularly dentate) to regularly crenulate 10-25 cm long and 3-7 cm wide. Stem leaves are smaller, alternate, mostly sessile, obovate to narrowly lanceolate becoming ligulate apically with coarse teeth and the base usually deeply lobed or fringed with slender segments. Flower heads are erect, usually solitary on long terminal peduncles and are 2.5-7.5 cm in diameter with 1-15 inflorescences per plant. The flower heads are mainly heterogamous with female ray florets and hermaphrodite disk florets. White ray florets, 15-30 per head are 0.5-2.4 cm long, ligulate, the apex rounded or with three small teeth;the 400-500 yellow disk florets are 4 mm long and tubular forming a dense, slightly domed centre. The numerous involucral bracts are green, edged with brown, and surround the base of each head. Fruits from both disk and ray florets are gray-silvery obovoid to cylindrical achenes with 5-10 equal raised ribs, 2-3 mm long and 0.8-1 mm wide. The pappus is absent or reduced to a crown. When crushed, all parts of the plant have a disagreeable sour odour (Clements et al., 2004).
Related invasive species
- Leucanthemum vulgare
Related Farm Practice
- Soil
L. vulgare is a perennial native to Europe and western Asia which has been introduced widely around the world. This species is reported as being invasive in the USA, Canada, India, New Zealand and Australia. In pastures and meadows it can form dense stands which can outcompete native flora and may reduce the diversity of natural vegetation or pasture quality. L. vulgare produces a large number of seed and can also regenerate from fragments of rhizome which makes control of this species difficult. L. vulgare may also serve as a host and reservoir for several species of polyphagous gall forming Meloidogyne nematodes. L. vulgare is federally regulated as a primary noxious weed in Canada.
A range of crops may be invaded by L. vulgare including barley (Hordeum vulgare), flax (Linum usitatissimum), oats (Avena sativa), oilseed rape (Brassica napus), sunflower (Helianthus annuus), wheat (Triticum species) and Lucerne (Medicago sativa), but it is most commonly a problem in pastures. In natural grassland it may become dominant to the detriment of the natural vegetation, but no individual species have been reportedly threatened.