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German chamomile
Habit (mature) · Kallerna / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
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German chamomile
Matricaria chamomilla
An aromatic annual herb of the daisy family (Asteraceae), grown for its small daisy-like flowers — 10-20 petal-like white rays surrounding a showy, bright-yellow domed center disk — borne June to August over finely divided, feathery, double-pinnate foliage. Native to Europe and western Asia, it reaches 1 to 2 feet tall and is most often grown in herb gardens to harvest its fragrant flowers, which are the chamomile used in most commercial chamomile tea because the species is sweeter and less bitter than Roman chamomile (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder, which lists it under the synonym Matricaria recutita).
Review: Source-backed
Climate fit: moderate (59/100)
Edible
Pollinator
Filler
Light
Full sun
Water
Low water
Mature size
12-24" tall · 8" apart
Hardy in zones
2-8
brutally cold to frosty winters
Summer heat range
Cool-Warm
cool to warm summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.
Native in Illinois
No
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Native to Europe and western Asia (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). MBG reports no serious insect or disease problems; the plant tolerates light shade and poor soils but is best with regular moisture and does well in light, sandy soils.
Climate notes
Cold hardiness
Now
Zone 6b
USDA
Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day
Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer
Well-suited
2050
Zone 7b
Plotwright
Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)
Well-suited
In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.
Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/german-chamomile
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited18 source-backed.
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
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Plant type
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Wikimedia Commons
Photo · CC BY-SA 3.0
Backs 1 field
Image
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The photos above are our reviewed reference set, curated for accuracy.
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