Asteraceae

(Compositae)

Composites

From Streeter et al., 2016, 'Family Key':

"Flowers (florets) very small, in daisy-, dandelion- or thistle-like heads; individual flowers either ray florets with corolla a petal-like ligule, or disc florets with a 5-lobed corolla; calyx usually reduced to a plume of hairs, the pappus; 5 stamens, anthers united into a tube surrounding the style"

For the specimen(s) below, hover over image in gallery for description and select for a full screen preview.

ID: 023

Date: 27 May 2024

Locality: Stratford Road, Buckingham

Location (Lat/Long): 52.003, -0.979

Landscape/habitat: At the side of the road/verge.

Identification notes: From the size I initially thought this would be an Oxeye Daisy, however I was unaware of the Shasta Daisy which is similar. After comparing the notes and characters of the 2, I decided that this was an Oxeye Daisy.

From Streeter et al. (2016, p.502) description of characters, with my observations:

Basal leaves bluntly toothed (as shown). They are not 'acutely toothed' like the Shasta Daisy (Darlington, 2020).
Erect, slender. Flowering stems to 70cm (note that the Shasta is larger).
Habitat includes roadside verges (as shown).
Involucral bracts 6-8mm. This is a whorl of bracts below the inflorescence, as shown in the photos. Size seemed as expected.

Name: Oxeye Daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare

ID: 027

Date: 01 Jun 2024

Locality: The Taxiway, Weston-super-Mare

Location (Lat/Long): 51.344, -2.934

Landscape/habitat: Next to a cycle path and roadside edge. Near to industrial units and a disused road/wasteland. Spotted whilst waiting for my car to charge.

Identification notes: This had the general look of a thistle but as I did not have my field guide with me, I used ID apps on my phone such as: Pl@ntNet (CIRAD et al., 2024) and Flora Incognita (Mäder and Wäldchen, 2024) to determine species. These suggested Cirsium arvense. After comparing my photos with the Collins Wildflower Guide (Streeter et al., 2016, p.480) I would still go with this suggestion but having the specimen to hand would give more confidence in making an identification:

Florets dull purple - although it doesn't appear 'dull' in the lighting in the photo?
Leaves very spiny
Found on roadsides and waste ground

Name: Creeping Thistle, Cirsium arvense

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References

CIRAD, INRAE, INRIA and IRD (2024) Pl@ntNet. Available at: https://plantnet.org/en/ (Accessed: 14 May 2024).

Darlington, R. W. (2020) Shasta Daisy. Available at: https://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/D/Daisy(Shasta)/Daisy(Shasta).htm (Accessed: 02 June 2024).

Mäder, P. and Wäldchen, J. (2024) Flora incognita. Technische Universität Ilmenau, Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie Available at: https://floraincognita.com/ (Accessed: 14 May 2024).

Streeter, D., Hart-Davies, C., Hardcastle, A., Cole, F. and Harper, L. (2016) Collins wild flower guide. Revised and updated 2nd edition. edn. London: William Collins.