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Devil's-Bit Scabious

Devil's-Bit Scabious

Succisa pratensis

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How common: Common

Devil's-bit scabious is a medium-sized perennial with blue to blue‑violet, button-like flower heads. It blooms late in the season and is often seen in meadows, pastures, shores and along paths. The rounded, even flower heads and smooth, shiny leaves help recognise it.

Did you know?

  • Its name comes from a tale that the devil bit off its root; the plant’s rootstock naturally withers from the tip and looks cut.
  • A key late-summer nectar source for butterflies, bees and hoverflies.

About the species

Identification

25–60 cm tall. Stems usually unbranched or branching near the top, smooth below. Leaves narrow to oval, smooth-edged, firm and shiny; the largest leaves form a tuft at the base. Flower heads are rounded, 2–3 cm across, on long stalks; all the tiny flowers are the same size and blue to blue‑violet, each with four small tips. Side heads are smaller. Later it carries small, hairy seeds. Differs from field scabious: that plant has more divided stem leaves and heads with larger outer flowers and a flatter look. Flowers in Finland in August–September.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow

Flowering

Aug–Sep

About the habitat

Grows in moist, often clay-rich ground in sunny or lightly shaded places: fresh meadows, river and lake shores, sea shores, forest edges and clearings, pasture woods, and field and road verges. Common in southern Finland, rare in central Finland.

Sources

Photo: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Succisa pratensis - Niitvälja bog - Keila.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Kaisaniemen kasvitieteellisen puutarhan evoluutiopuutarha - Asteridit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39366

Text: Pinkka: Kasvitieteen retkeily Ahvenanmaalle - Nåtö ja Västerskog, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39366

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39366

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purtojuuri

See also