Seaside Daisy
BUSH INVADER
Erigeron karvinskianus
family: ASTERACEAE
Description
- Seaside Daisy is a low sprawling perennial with a woody base, from Central America, common in home garden rockeries and borders.
Also called Mexican Daisy. - The leaves are light green, slightly hairy, often lobed, and grow in clusters along the stem. They give off a characteristic smell when crushed.
- Produces large numbers of small daisy flowers, opening white and ageing to pink, with a yellow centre. Flowers all year, but mainly in summer.
- Each flower produces many small, light seeds.
Dispersal
Seeds are dispersed by wind and water, stems layer, broken roots and rhizomes regrow. Often sold on garden stalls; often dumped in bushland.
Impact on Bushland
Reproduces and spreads rapidly to form dense mats, can grow in almost any open habitat, including watercourses. Crowds out and displaces ground level plants, creating a virtual monoculture.
Distribution
Throughout the Blue Mountains.
Alternative Planting
Native Plants
Local native Rock Daisies (Brachyscome angustifolia)
Everlasting Daisies (Chrysocephalum, Rhodanthe and Bracteantha species)
Bush Peas, eg Pultenaea scabra
Fringed Heath-myrtle (Micromyrtus ciliata)
groundcover Grevilleas (Grevillea laurifolia, Grevillea gaudichaudii)
Exotic alternatives
Alpine Phlox (Phlox subulata)
Wild Thyme (Thymus serpyllum cultivars)
Control
Pull small plants, or dig out larger ones: stems and rhizomes are woody and brittle and tend to break off. Scrape and paint or cut and paint woody stems. Will require follow-up.
Seaside Daisy can grow in almost any open habitat.
photo: © Anne Bowman
Flowers of Seaside Daisy open white and age to pink.
photo: © Anne Bowman
