Scabiosa columbaria can be distinguished from the two similar scabious species (knautia arvensis and succisa pratensis) by having flowers with five lobes rather than four.
Common name:
Small scabious
Family:
Scientific name:
Scabiosa columbaria
Main flower color:
Range:
England and Wales; commonest in the south
Height:
Up to 70 cm
Habitat:
Dry grassland, especially on calcareous soils
Flowers:
Flat-topped clusters, up to 3 cm in diameter, of several dozen flowers, which have tubular corollas opening to five lobes. Flowers are largest around the edge of the cluster. At the base of the corolla are a calyx of dark bristles, seen most easily underneath, where the bristles project beyond the narrow bracts at the base of the cluster. Bracts and stems have a covering of appressed hairs
Leaves:
Basal leaves, in a rosette, are coarsely lobed or toothed, with a large end lobe, while stem leaves are also pinnate, with narrower, more well-defined lobes
Season:
June to September
Rarity:
★★★★★
