Devil's-bit Scabious
Succisa pratensis
Honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae)
Near Threatened (NT)
Devils bit à la Mariken
In the saga of Mariken from Nieumeghen it states that when she was a young girl she sold her soul to the devil in exchange for help in healing her dying father. When the villagers subsequently considered her to be a saint, the devil was furious and made her blind. To prevent the villagers from using the root of the Succisa pratensis to cure her, the devil bit off a large piece of the root. Since then the root appears as a bitten off stub and hence its vernacular name ‘devils bit'.
The attractive blue, pin cushion-like flower heads with its abundant source of nectar is an important flower for bees. Unfortunately it is in decline and the plant is now an endangered species along rivers and dunes edges.
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Themes
Crown jewel in the Nijmegen Botanic Garden.
The flowers are frequently visited by butterflies (e.g. marsh fritillary, small skipper, small pearl-bordered fritillary, small cabbage white and the green-veined white) and moths (e.g. Nemophora cupriacella, Nemophora minimella, the twin spot plume moth) and 'smaller moths'.
This plant is often depicted in paintings and illustrations.
The Duth saying 'of the blue buttonhole' means that the owner is teetotal. People belonging to the movement to combat alcohol abuse symbolized their memebrship by wearing a blue buttonhole on their lapels.
This plant is considered to provide protection from witchcraft and wizadry.
Details
| Description: | Herb, 30-90 cm. |
|---|---|
| Distributions: | Europe, africa, asia |
| Habitat: | Grassland, coastal dunes, roadside verges, sand ridges in peatbogs, strips of land where peat is laid to dry and old sphagnum-sedge beds |
| Year cycle: | Perennial (trees and shrubs included) |
| Hardiness: | Colder than -4 f (very hardy) |
| Flowering period: | Juli - oktober |
| Flower color: | Purple, blue, pink |
| At its best: | Juli - oktober |
Sources
http://www.floron.nl/publicaties/rode-lijst-2012,IUCNredlist.org,
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blauwe_knoop,
http://historiek.net/lid-zijn-van-de-blauwe-knoop/47176/,
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/17856/i-Succisa-pratensis-i/Details?returnurl=%2fplants%2fsearch-re...,
http://wilde-planten.nl/blauwe%20knoop.htm