Field Scabious Knautia arvensis


Scientific Name: Knautia arvensis. Dipsacaceae.

English Name: Field Scabious.

French Name: La Knautie des champs (='field knautia'); la Scabieuse des champs (='field scabious'); la Langue-de-vache (='cow's tongue'); l'Oreille d'âne (='ass' ear'); l'Oreille de lièvre (='hare's ear').



5 Key Characters:
  •  Robust and roughly hairy.
  •  Basal leaves unlobed, but often blunt toothed.
  • Stem leaves deeply divided, with coarse, stiff segments and rounded tip.
  • Stalks tough and coarse.
  • Individual flowers have 4 unequal lobes.
Lookalikes: Small Scabious Scabiosa columbaria, which is smaller and more slender, with finely divided stem leaves and 5 lobed flowers. Beware, as they can be growing together in some places. Field Scabious is more widely distributed and more abundant.

 Habitat: Dry grassland, hedgerows, roadsides.

Flowering Period: July-August-September.  

Status: Very common.  

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

The stiff, coarsely divided stem leaves, July.

 

1 comment:

  1. Susan...
    there is a problem on my sidebar with LVN...
    this was the post visible until yesterday...
    Now it is:

    Loire Valley Nature
    vmvmvvvm - vmvmvmvvmvvm

    Of which "vmvmvvvm" is the link....
    to "page not found"

    Thought you should know.

    ReplyDelete