Ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) gall

Credit: DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Caption: A galled ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare). The picture shows the composite flower head of an ox-eye daisy - the inflorescence. The inflorescence is comprised of many small flowers of two types. The white "petals" at the periphery are sterile flowers called ray florets, and the yellow centre of the head is a mass of fertile flowers, known as disc florets. The picture shows the development of a gall amidst the disc florets. This has been caused by a gall fly laying an egg in one of the disc florets early in its development. The feeding larva within the immature floret has disturbed the normal development of the tissues, causing them to produce a disorganised outgrowth comprised of white tubules and green blades with brown hairs at their surface; structures that resemble the rays and the bracts of a normal flower head.

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Keywords: biological, biology, botanical, botany, close-up, composite flower, detail, disc florets, flora, flower, gall, gall fly, inflorescence, leucanthemum vulgare, nature, ox-eye daisy, plant, plant development, ray florets

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