Pineappleweed

Information on Pineappleweed

Common Name: Pineappleweed
Scientific Name: Matricaria discoidea
Irish Name: Lus na hiothlann
Family Group: Asteraceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Pineappleweed is not easily confused with other wild plants on this web site.


The distinctive feature of this annual wildflower is the scent of its leaves which smell just like pineapple.  It forms extensive patches on disturbed ground, tracks, pathways and other well-trodden places.  It is quite unusual in that it is without ray florets, having only small greenish-yellow conical heads of disc florets (8-12mm across).  They flower from May through to November.  These heads are closely back by overlapping flower-bracts.  If the flowers are plain, the leaves make up for it.  They are feathery, pinnately divided and well branched and it is when they are crushed that the pineapple smell happens.  This is not a native plant, in fact it was first found in Ireland near Dublin in 1894.  It belongs to the family Asteraceae.  

My first sighting of this plant was in Bray, Co Wicklow in 1977.  I photographed it in Ballitore, Co Kildare in 2005.  

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

Also known as Disc Mayweed and Pineapple Mayweed, this plant is used in the preparation of herbal tea.  The early leaves are also used in salads. 

Pineappleweed
Pineappleweed
Pineappleweed
Pineappleweed