Trailing daisy (Sphagneticola trilobata)

Latin Name	Observation Date	Location
Sphagneticola trilobata	Jun 16, 2026	Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh

There are many types of wildflowers in the nature around us. Today I will introduce you to a beautiful bright yellow flower, which is very familiar to many. This flower is best known to the common people and gardeners as 'Trailing daisy' or 'Singapore daisy'. It is also called 'creeping-oxeye' and 'wedelia' in different places.

​Scientific name:
In the language of botany, this beautiful flowering plant has a specific scientific name. Its current scientific name is Sphagneticola trilobata. In various studies by scientists, some other old or synonymous names are also found, such as Wedelia trilobata, Wedelia carnosa and Complaya trilobata etc.

​Family and Genus:
In the scientific classification of the plant world, it is a member of the Plantae kingdom. It is a plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. Its tribe is Heliantheae and the genus is Sphagneticola.

​Size and physical structure:
It is a perennial herbaceous plant that spreads like a dense web or forms mats on the ground. The plant usually grows up to 30 centimeters in height. Its rounded stems are about 40 centimeters long and roots emerge from the nodes of the stems. The leaves are somewhat fleshy, hairy and 4 to 9 centimeters long. The upper side of the leaves is dark green and the lower side is slightly lighter green. Its flowers are bright yellow and each flower head has about 8 to 13 ray florets or petal-like parts.

​Native and habitat:
This plant is native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. However, it is now widely distributed in various tropical or Neotropical regions of the world. It grows and grows best in moist soil with sufficient sunlight and good drainage.

​Reproduction:
The reproduction process of this plant is quite different, because its seeds are usually not fertile. As a result, instead of reproducing through seeds, they reproduce most often through vegetative reproduction or vegetative method. They spread very quickly to the surrounding soil by growing roots from the nodes of the stem.

​Usefulness:
Due to its beautiful flowers and extraordinary ability to quickly cover the soil with green leaves, many people cultivate it as a groundcover or ornamental plant in gardens. As a result, the wasteland of the garden is covered with a very nice green carpet.

​Disadvantages:
Despite its external beauty, this plant can be very harmful to the environment. According to the IUCN, it is listed as one of the 100 worst invasive species in the world. It spreads easily from garden waste to the surrounding natural environment. It spreads so quickly in the soil like a web that no other native plant seeds or seedlings can grow there. It is known as a very harmful weed or noxious weed for agricultural land, roadsides, urban waste sites, river banks and mangrove swamps. It has taken its place as a deadly invasive plant in various countries including Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Indonesia.

I hope you like the information.

I learned about them from various sites including iNaturalist, Wikipedia and Google.

(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.)
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Camera Used	Samsung SM-G973F
F-Stop	F2.4
ISO speed	ISO
Focal length	26mm
Flash	No
Editing app	Lightroom
Photography	(Sphagneticola trilobata)
Photographer	@mshbd
Location	Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh

Link to original community
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/372717838

Latitude	Longitude	Map Link
24.3382	89.1360	https://www.openstreetmap.org/?#map=12/24.3382/89.1360