Country: The Netherlands
If it is indeed Chamomile I’d like to harvest some of it for making a few teas. I also don’t want to ruin the fun for others and I want to contribute to more of it growing in that area next year. So if anyone has some tips on responsible harvesting chamomile from a public space, I’d love to hear them. It doesn’t look to me like it was put there on purpose, as it is growing in by a small park but between many other bushes.
Also, I just read that harvesting a flower from a public space is technically theft or poaching according to Dutch law (Art. 314). If the Royal Family owns the land it would be a felony according to someone in Quora, but I could not source that. However, it appears that responsible harvesting small amounts for own use is tolerated in practice if one is not abusing 😅
EDIT: Found a good video about harvesting Chamomile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci1vPMh2fVM
I am definetly not an expert, but it does look like Chamomile to me. A good test to make sure is to squeeze the flower between your fingers while you smell it. Chamomile has a very characteristic smell, and should be easy to recognise.
I was surprised by their lack of smell, but I thought that the smell of the fresh flower might be subtle…
Eventually I figured out the disappointing fact that the scentless chamomile (Tripleurospermum inodorum) looks a lot like German Chamomile, and it is most likely what I have here 😭 So the quest continues… At least I know how to identify the real one now.
I was going to suggest that you should know from the smell just by being near it.