Tansy

Tanacetum vulgare

Plant Data

Order:

Asterales

Family:

Asteraceae (Daisy)

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Flowers:

Golden yellow flowers forming flat-topped clusters. Flowers are button-like.

Fruit:

An tufted seed (achene) with many ridges.

Leaves:

Fern-like, finely divided pinnate leaves. The leaflets have toothed margins. The leaves alternate along the stems.

Maximum Size:

120cm tall.

Foraging Notes:

Poisonous to humans and animals. Animals usually die within weeks or months after eating Tansy. Tansy contains toxins such as Thujone which can induce convulsions, liver damage and brain damage upon consumption.
Never consume a wild plant unless you are 100% certain that it is safe to eat and you know that you have identified it correctly.

Aroma:

Very pungent due to the oil in its shoots.

Other Names:

Arbor Vitae, Bachelor's Buttons, Bitter-buttons, Common Tansy, Cow Bitter, Garden Tansy, Ginger Plant, Golden Buttons, Gold-leaf Tansy, Hineheel, Parsley Fern, Scented Fern, Staggerwort, Stinking Willie, Wild Tansy, Yellow Buttons.

Habitats:

Ditches, farmland, gardens, grassland, hedgerows, riverbanks, roadsides, wasteland.