Plant Name
Scientific Name: Sphagneticola trilobata
Synonyms: Complaya trilobata, Silphium trilobatum, Thelechitonia trilobata, Wedelia lobata, W. trilobata
Common Names: Wedelia, Bay Biscayne Creeping-oxeye, Creeping Ox-Eye, Creeping Daisy, Trailing Daisy, Singapore Daisy
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual, Perennial
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Hawaii Native Status: Introduced. This naturalized ornamental flowering groundcover is native to Mexico and Central and South America.
Flower Color: Yellow
Height: Usually under 1 foot (30 cm) tall
Description: The solitary flower heads are 1 inch (2.5 cm) across and have yellow, 3-notched rays and yellow disks. The rays are either solid yellow or tipped with paler yellow. The leaves are fleshy, green, very shiny, irregularly toothed or serrate, and narrowly egg-shaped. Some of the leaves are tri-lobed with a pair of smaller side lobes. The plants are creeping and mat-forming, and the stems take root at the nodes.
Here in Hawaii, Wedelia grows wild in open, disturbed areas at lower elevations, where it can form a dense groundcover and crowd out other low-growing plants. The plants spread by the rooting stems and occasionally by seed.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae – Aster family
Genus: Sphagneticola O. Hoffm. – creeping-oxeye
Species: Sphagneticola trilobata (L.) Pruski – Bay Biscayne creeping-oxeye
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