Botanical atlas

Alpine Moon Daisy

Leucanthemum alpinum

High in the scree and short turf above the treeline, the alpine moon daisy has long been treasured simply for showing up where little else will bloom, opening its white, sun-faced flowers through the short mountain summer. Alpine botanists and cottage gardeners alike have prized it since the nineteenth century as one of the toughest little daisies for rock gardens and stone troughs, a miniature echo of the meadow oxeye daisy scaled down to survive wind, thin soil, and a brief growing season. Like many members of the daisy tribe, its common name carries the old English idea of the 'day's eye,' a flower that opens with the sun and closes at dusk, though this particular alpine cousin belongs more to the story of mountain gardens than to the herbalist's cupboard. It is not a plant with a deep, well documented history of medicinal use, and it is best appreciated and passed along for what it plainly is: a hardy, honest little flower of high, wild places.

Safety.

No toxicity is documented, but as a daisy-family plant it may cause skin irritation in those sensitive to ragweed or chrysanthemums.