Lakeside Daisy
A rare Great Lakes endemic can turn nearly barren alvar gold for a single synchronized week, surviving in thin soil over limestone where few flowering plants tolerate heat, wind, and drought.
Artwork inspired by Alice Schille
Lakeside daisy is a long-lived perennial specialized for alvar—open limestone pavement with very shallow soil, intense sun, seasonal extremes, and little competition. Rosettes may take at least two years to flower, then many plants bloom together in May. Because a plant cannot make viable seed with genetically similar pollen, healthy populations depend on genetic diversity as well as acreage.
Ohio holds the largest United States population near Marblehead, but the species also survives or has been restored in parts of Illinois, Michigan, and Ontario. Habitat loss, quarrying history, shade, invasive plants, browsing, and isolation all matter. View blooms only from authorized public routes, never disclose a small colony’s precise coordinates, and never pick, dig, or move any plant or seed.
- Bloom
- Usually May
- Habitat
- Great Lakes limestone alvar
- Status
- Federally threatened
Quick guide
- Time the short bloom
- Most Ohio flowering occurs in May and may peak for roughly a week.
- Read the alvar
- Notice bare limestone, shallow soil, full sun, and low competing vegetation.
How to appreciate a rare flower without loving it to death
- Time the short bloom
- Most Ohio flowering occurs in May and may peak for roughly a week.
- Read the alvar
- Notice bare limestone, shallow soil, full sun, and low competing vegetation.
- Stay on authorized routes
- A footprint can crush rosettes that are inconspicuous outside bloom.
- Leave every flower
- Protected populations need both mature plants and genetically diverse seed.
Good to know
This is a protected threatened plant. Do not pick flowers, collect seed, step off an authorized route, or use precise crowd-sourced coordinates to enter restricted quarry or preserve land.
Notice these
- Mustard-yellow flower head
- Double-notched ray tips
- Narrow leaves in a basal rosette