Crown daisy
Glebionis coronaria
Family · Asteraceae · Harmless
The large daisy that paints whole southern fields yellow between March and May, often with a centre deeper in colour than the rays. It is the same species eaten in Japan under the name shungiku.
Fields and pasture · Roadsides and waste ground · Town and roadside · Dunes and sand
Also known asgarland chrysanthemum, shungiku
How to tell it
An upright plant to a metre, fleshy and hairless. Leaves twice divided into narrow segments, clasping the stem at the base. Large heads, four to six centimetres, with yellow rays often paler at the tip and a toasted-yellow disc. A strong resinous smell when crushed.
What it is confused with
Corn marigold
Glebionis segetum
Both are yellow and grow together. Corn marigold has leaves merely toothed at the edges, nearly entire and bluish; crown daisy has leaves twice divided into fine strips. Neither is dangerous.
What it is for
Grown as a vegetable in Japan, China and Korea, where young leaves go into soups and cooked salads. In the Peninsula it is mostly forage and a field plant, and wild leaves are far more bitter than cultivated ones.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.