Don’t be fooled by their Beauty

The oxeye daisy is the pop star of Inland Northwest wildflowers — lots of flash, but little substance.

Also known as marguerite, chrysanthemum lucanthemum is one of the showiest wildflowers along logging roads and forest meadows in North Idaho and northeastern Washington.

Yet it isn’t even a wildflower.

The oxeye is considered a noxious weed in both states.

“It’s not native to this region,” said Kathy Ahlenslager, Colville National Forest botanist.

It’s an escaped ornamental probably brought into this region by homesteaders, experts say.

“Now it assumes different levels of ickyness depending on which county weed board you talk to,” Ahlenslager said.

Oxeye daisy is just one of many noxious weeds that look pretty and may even be in one of the “wildflower” seed mixes you buy from an unscrupulous vendor.

Other beauties include Dalmatian toadflax and purple loosestrife.

Aside from their showy blooms, these weeds all share the common vice of being virtually unpalatable to stock and wildlife.

“Orange and yellow hawkweed are colorful and pretty,” said Pat Munts of the Spokane County Extension Weed Education Program. “But they form a dense mat that crowds out all vegetation. Wildlife won’t touch it.”

The oxeye daisy, like most weeds, is most common in sites that have been disturbed by plows or bulldozers or other machinery.

“Anytime you have an exotic take hold, it’s at the price of another plant,” said Tim Bertrum, Forest Service wildlife biologist. “I’ve never seen anything eating oxeye daisy.”

The oxeye has no medicinal or herbal uses that we know of, nor is it beneficial to animals. It’s nothing, other than pretty.