''Glebionis segetum'' (syn. ''Chrysanthemum segetum'') is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

, probably native only to the eastern

Mediterranean region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

but now naturalized in western and northern Europe as well as China and parts of North America. Common names include corn marigold and corn daisy. ''Glebionis segetum'' has been hybridized with related '' Argyranthemum'' species to create

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s of

garden marguerite Garden marguerites, also known as marguerite daisies, are cultivars of plants in the subtribe Glebionidinae of the family Asteraceae, the great majority being hybrids created in cultivation. One of the genera belonging to the subtribe, '' Argyrant ...

s. ''Glebionis segetum'' is a herbaceous

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

growing to 80 cm tall, with spirally arranged, deeply lobed leaves 5–20 cm long. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are bright yellow, produced in capitula (flowerheads) 3.5-5.5 cm in diameter, with a ring of ray florets and a centre of disc florets. ''Glebionis segetum'' is widely naturalised outside of its native range, colonising western and central

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

with early human

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

; it can be an invasive

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

in some areas. However, it also was ranked very highly, in terms of nectar production, thus showing particular value in the role of nectar-provider for insects in a UK survey of meadow species' production of nectar sugar and pollen. ''Glebionis segetum'' was practically an exact equivalent in terms of how much nectar and pollen it produced in this study with the popular garden and meadow plant, cornflower '' Centaurea cyanus'' — the top producer of nectar sugar among the cultivated plants in the study (as opposed to those classified as

s). Its long blooming period helps its ranking, as it does not have few flowers with very high nectar volume per flower — coupled with a brief blooming period that completely exhausts the plant, like some top-ranked plants in nectar sugar production surveys (e.g. Bull Thistle, ''

Cirsium vulgare ''Cirsium vulgare'', the spear thistle, bull thistle, or common thistle, is a species of the Asteraceae genus ''Cirsium'', native throughout most of Europe (north to 66°N, locally 68°N), Western Asia (east to the Yenisei Valley), and northwest ...

''). The plant strongly attracts very small butterflies (such as the '' Pearl Crescent'') and also small hoverflies such as '' Toxomerus marginatus''.

Japanese beetle The Japanese beetle (''Popillia japonica'') is a species of scarab beetle. The adult measures in length and in width, has iridescent copper-colored elytra and a green thorax and head. It is not very destructive in Japan (where it is control ...

s will consume the petals. The corn marigold appears to have been a serious weed during the 13th century in Scotland, as suggested by a law of Alexander II which states that if a farmer allows so much as a single plant to produce seed in amongst his crops, then he will be fined a sheep.Dalrymple, Sir David (1776). Annals of Scotland. Pub. J. Murray. London. P. 338 -339. In

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, the leaves and the tender shoots of a variety called ''neromantilida'' (νερομαντηλίδα) are eaten raw in salads or browned in hot olive oil by the locals.

Taxonomy

''Glebionis segetum'' was formerly treated in the genus '' Chrysanthemum'', but under a 1999 decision of the

International Botanical Congress International Botanical Congress (IBC) is an international meeting of botanists in all scientific fields, authorized by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies (IABMS) and held every six years, with the location rotati ...

, that genus has been redefined with a different circumscription to include the economically important florist's chrysanthemum (now '' Chrysanthemum indicum''). The epithet ''segetum'' is a plural noun in the genitive case, meaning "of the corn ields, so does not change its ending to agree with the feminine genus name.

References

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Flora Europaea: ''Glebionis segetum'' (as ''Chrysanthemum segetum'')
{{Taxonbar, from=Q28242 Glebionidinae Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Malta