Family: Asteraceae
Common name: Creeping ox-eye, Wedelia, Trailing daisy
Don’t let this pretty little flower fool you. It’s among the world’s 100 worst weeds. If you have a patch or ledge-like area you don’t know what to fill with, Creeping ox-eye is your answer.
Plant characteristics
Creeping ox-eye plants grow to a height of 30-60 cm and can spread over large areas, filling it with a green carpet of shiny leaves, interspersed with pretty yellow flowers. The stem is green with a reddish hue, growing very quickly, and often rooting from the nodes where they touch the soil.
Leaves are bright green and glossy, about 5-10 cm long with a toothed margin. They have three distinct lobes, giving the plant its name trilobata.
Creeping ox-eye plants bloom profusely during spring and summer, the bright yellow flowers in stark contrast to the dark green leaves. In fact, it very common see meadows of green dotted with bright yellow, when Creeping ox-eye plants grow in the wild.
The flowers are 3-5 cm in diameter with a darker center made up of disk florets, surrounded by bright yellow petals or ray florets. Creeping ox-eye plants also produce small fruits that are 3-4 mm in diameter, but they are usually not noticeable due to the size.
Gardening tips
Creeping ox-eye plants thrive in bright sunlight, but they can also grow well in filtered sunlight under trees or big plants. They can be grown in open areas as a ground cover since these plants grow and spread very quickly.
Watering is needed only during summer months. They are resistant to pests, though worms and snails can eat the tender leaves.
They are very invasive and can smother smaller saplings, if they are not pruned on time. Creeping ox-eye plants can be grown in pots, hanging baskets, or in flower beds.
New plants grow from severed portions of the parent plant, roots coming out of the nodes along the stem. So an attempt to remove this plant by cutting it actually results in more plants, thus making it an invasive weed.
Uses of Creeping ox-eye
Creeping ox-eye plants are mostly grown as ornamental plants in home gardens and landscaped areas, where they make excellent ground cover.
They can prevent soil erosion especially in sloped surfaces with loose soil. The roots can hold fast to the soil preventing the precious topsoil from eroding away.
It has medicinal uses in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine to treat wounds, inflammations, colds, indigestion, fever and malaria. So plant a Creeping ox-eye in a corner of your garden and watch it grow overnight.
Propagation
Propagation is through seeds and stem cuttings.
A small piece of the stem, with a node is capable of rooting in water or in soil, making it very easy to propagate these plants.
Photographed at: Koonammavu, Kerala. Sobha Petunia, Bangalore
