Botanical family, common family.
Description:
Plant:
Unbranched or occasionally branching stem, 1'-2', with sparse, stiff hairs,
rising from basal
rosette, and with alternate upper leaves, bears solitary white, classic
"daisy" flowers with yellow center.
Stem sometimes with purple ridges. Perennial.
Flowers:
Heads of white disk flowers surrounding a yellow center, 1"-2" across,
borne singly on slender stem that bears alternate leaves on its lower portion.
20-40 rays, with slightly notched tip. Center of disk is depressed initially,
becoming dome-like as the seeds begin to develop. Involucral bracts
overlapping.
Classic "daisy"
Leaves:
Basal and alternate. Elongated, coarsely toothed to pinnately lobed, generally sessile.
Basal leaves often spoon-shaped, to 6", upper leaves, narrowly obovate,
to 3".
Fruit:
Dry, seed-like, without downy hairs.
Blooming:
June-October.
Habitat:
Fields, roadsides, waste areas.
Comments:
A classic daisy, imported from Europe.
It is reputed to give milk a bad taste if ingested in quantity by the cows.
Recently placed in a new genus, on the basis of genetic studies.
Where to find it:
Scattered in meadow locations throughout the park.