More Urban Species: Stinking Chamomile also 3:00 snapshot #371
Stinking Chamomile Anthemis cotula
As fate would have it, my snapshot alarm went off right as I was examining a plant I'd never seen before. Its location carried an obvious pice of information. It was growing in the "Contact Yard," the little corral where children, sheep, and goats can all mingle. This meant that this plant was unpalatable to goats, an attribute shared by relatively few growing things, or things at all for that matter. I suspected its identity from reading field guides, and did what I always do when I encounter a plant or fungus with the word "stink" in its name: I took a big sniff of it. (I can't seem to find it, but somewhere there's a pic of me getting a big whiff of a Phallus ravenelli) Yup, they smell real bad. Unsurprisingly, they are reportedly pollinated by flies and beetles, but repel bees, who tend to share our anthropocentric view of what smells good.
This plant is fairly closely related to chamomile and pineapple weed, and is even likewise used as a tea by some people. I'd advise against it, based on the odor alone, plus the fact that many people seem to be allergic it. An invasive weed outside of its southern European range, Anthemis cotula likes to grow in claylike soil, in direct sunlight--both of which were conditions I found it enjoying today. Like many weeds it goes by a long list of common names, including many that it shares with entirely unrelated plants, such as "mayweed," and "dog fennel." I prefer stinking chamomile, as it describes its appearance both visual and olfactory.
Sources and further reading:
Plants for a Future: Edible, medicinal and useful plants for a healthier world. Anthemis cotula.
Calflora Taxon Report 392
Connecticut Botanical Society
Invasion by alien Anthemis cotula L. in a biodiversity hotspot: Release from native foes or relief from alien friends?
An interesting paper suggesting that this species becomes invasive in part due to helpful mycorhyzzal fungi in the soil of the lands it invades.