Tree Daisy – Montanoa grandifolia

This is a spectacular multi-use ornamental plant that is mostly absent in the Florida landscape despite being very well adapted. It is the same iconic fall blooming plant that many guests at Bok Tower botanical garden are amazed by when they visit the garden. It is a rapidly growing shrubby plant that in many ways is similar to Mexican Sunflower, which it may be an enticing alternative to as a biomass generating species. The plant is slightly less rampant than Mexican Sunflower and has a more upright habit, making it a more manageable option for growing mulch in-situ or what some people call a “chop and drop” plant. Being closely related, we assume it has similar nutrient accumulating abilities.

When fall arrives, the plant becomes covered in a huge bouquet of “daisies” for several weeks. These flowers are beautiful. They heavily attract butterflies and have a distinctive chocolate chip cookie smell! This unique smell makes this a very fun plant for children. In the past, we have passively fed the prunings to farm herbivores as forage which they would consume without any obvious negative effect, though we doubt any studies have been done on the forage potential. If well established before the first winter, tree daisy can freeze to the ground and easily re-sprout from temps in the low-20’s. In one growing season the plant grows to at least 12 feet tall! We don’t know how far north into Florida it may be able to survive.

This is a really fantastic and beautiful plant that should be much more widely appreciated as a low maintenance plant for Florida.  To our knowledge, there are no human food usages of tree daisy.

4-inch potted plant.