Daisies at the beach serve dual purposes

Sea-Oxeye Daisy. (Photo by Anita Westervelt)

Published May 23, 2026, in the McAllen Monitor

Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist

Three yellow blooming vibrant, colorful shrubs along the Gulf and Mexican coasts are highly beneficial to a healthy coast. I’d be hard-pressed to select a favorite amongst the trio.

All are in the Asteraceae family and all uniquely different in appearance, although their tasks are similar: synergistically supporting wildlife while stabilizing beach dunes in an important aspect of dune construction.

Sea-Oxeye Daisy at the beach. (Photo by Anita Westervelt)

Sea-oxeye daisies, Borrichia frutescens, are small, long-lived, woody, perennial shrubs that form large colonies. The leaves are succulent, are silvery-green, short, thin and sturdy, about an inch long. The flowers are valuable nectar and pollen sources for butterflies and pollinators, especially because they bloom nearly year-round.

The flower heads of sea-oxeye daisy have dark yellow ray petals and darker yellow tubular disc florets often peppered with dark brown or black anthers. The flowers are especially attractive to large orange sulphur, great Southern white, Gulf fritillary and broken-dash skipper butterflies.

The prolific seed producers provide food for birds and mammals. Nocturnal rats and mice, pocket gophers, ground squirrels and nutria feed on the seeds, fruit and plants.

Dense, thicket-like growth provides cover and protection for insects and small coastal animals. They are a salt-tolerant bushy coastal shrub that grows two to four feet tall and spread by rhizomes.

Camphor Daisy at the coast. (Photo by Anita Westervelt)

Camphor daisy, Rayjacksonia phyllocephala, is noticeable for its deeply toothed, lacy-looking leaves that give off a pungent camphor-like odor when rubbed. The bright yellow ray petals are larger than those of sea-oxeye daisies.

Camphor daisy flowers fan out like a traditional daisy. The large flowers attract Southern carpenter bees, butterflies and beneficial hoverflies -- interesting looking flies that help manage aphids. The plants are long blooming, beginning in March, and more heavily from fall through January, when many other beach plants have quit flowering. While popular with pollinators, the camphor-scented leaves are a natural pest deterrent. 

For all its soft and frilly demeanor, camphor daisy is hardy, drought-tolerant and thrives in coastal shell beaches, beach sand and coastal dunes, providing important erosion control. It is specifically found along the Gulf of Mexico, primary in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and the state of Tamaulipas in Mexico.

A vibrant stand of Cow Pen Daisies fortifying a sand dune at the beach. (Photo by Anita Westervelt)

Cow pen daisy, Verbesina encelioides, the third important daisy on the beach, is native to Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico and widely distributed across Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and the Midwest Plains.

For all its hearty and wide distribution across harsh hot, dry, sunny regions, it is not land locked. It is a highly useful native plant along coastal Texas as a resilient soil stabilizer, thriving in arid, nutrient-poor sandy soils of beach dunes and shorelines. The plant’s long roots help anchor loose sand on dunes which helps reduce wind and water erosion.

Cow pen daisies are a drought-tolerant annual plant. They can handle the coastal heat and attract pollinators well into the fall. They are an important nectar source for late-migrating monarch butterflies and a larval host to bordered patch butterflies.

The flowers have wide yellow rays with distinctive three-notched tips and golden discs. Silvery-gray green leaves are triangular shaped with serrated edges.

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