Feverfew
Tanacetum parthenium
A bushy, short-lived perennial of the daisy family, usually 30–70cm tall, with soft yellowish-green leaves pinnately divided into broad, blunt-toothed lobes. The flower heads are small daisies, short white rays around a flat yellow disc, carried several together in loose flat-topped clusters. The whole plant smells sharply bitter when crushed. Long grown in gardens for traditional herbal use and now widely naturalised.
A garden escape long naturalised on old walls, churchyard edges, roadsides, railway banks and waste ground, favouring dry, sunny, well-drained disturbed soil. Common across lowland England, more scattered in Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Not a poisonous plant, but an intensely bitter one. Chewing fresh leaves causes mouth ulcers, sore gums and tongue soreness in a substantial minority of people, so it is a strong bitter herb rather than a salad green. The sap can cause contact dermatitis in anyone sensitive to the daisy family, and the plant is traditionally avoided during pregnancy and by people taking anticoagulants, who should seek their own advice before using it at all.
Always use more than one reference to confirm a plant. You are responsible for what you choose to forage.
Leaves
Flat, soft and yellowish-green, pinnately divided into broad, blunt-toothed lobes with a clear leaf stalk. This rules out the chamomiles and mayweeds, whose foliage is thread-fine and feathery rather than broadly lobed.
Flower heads
Small daisies 10–25mm across, short white rays around a broad, flat yellow disc, carried several together in a loose flat-topped cluster. Chamomile carries its heads singly on long bare stalks and the disc is domed, not flat.
Smell
Crush a leaf between finger and thumb: the scent is sharp, bitter and medicinal. If what you have smells sweetly of apples or pineapple, it is a chamomile, not this plant.
Habit and stems
Upright and branched from the base into a rounded bush, with faintly ridged, slightly downy stems. Often seen rooted in wall mortar and paving cracks, where its woody base survives from year to year.
Updated 2026-08-07T21:15:26.745Z · Part of the shared Foragers Log catalogue · Herb