11 June 2009

Any idea who this is?

A long, long time ago, someone told me that this is chamomile.
I believed it until a few days ago when I photographed it and then went out to Google to double check.

It doesn't look like it is...I have never seen a daisy like flower on it, though it has grown at the end of just about every driveway I've ever lived near.

It's pretty -- but what is it?

2 comments:

  1. I'm not a botanist, but I believe that's Roman chamomile (as opposed to German, which is what's most used for the tea.)

    We've purchased both types from the nursery, and grown them in the garden or in pots over the years, and even when I did get the little daisy-like petals on them, they were few & far between!

    My understanding is that the identification can be based on the fernlike leaf and the cone shape of the flowerhead (what would be the center of it, if the petals were present.) The plant grows low to the ground, and has a smell something like green apples. The cone is hollow.

    There are pictures in the "Photothèque" at ethnopharmacologie.org that look somewhat like your image. Look under Anthemis nobilis.

    HTH :)

    Cheers!
    Ruby in Montreal

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  2. Thank you SO much, Ruby! This is just the key I was missing. (I *knew* about German vs Roman a long time ago, but had forgotten.)

    Further research, based on information you gave me, and information that the lovely Denica provided elsewhere has solved the mystery!

    Thank you, thank you, Thanks you!!

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