Discussion

The great burnet plant is sometimes confused with grasses because they are often seen together in meadows, but it isn't a grass. It is closely related to roses. Great burnets favor damp open areas and are native to cooler regions of the Northern Hemisphere around the world--Europe, Asia, and North America.

In typical plants, 2 to 5 vertical, branching stalks (the number depends on age) grow from this base to a height of from 30 to 48 inches. Toward the top of the main stalks, multiple branches emerge, each with its own blossom at the tip as shown in this artist's illustration.

The "blossoms" are really densely packed clusters of tiny florets, each of which has both male and female organs. Here is what a budding great burnet "blossom" looks like. Each of the bumps on the "blossom" is a separate floret bud. The entire blossom structure is 1 to 1.5 inches long.

Each floret has four sepals (parts of a calyx) instead of petals. They surround four stamens (pollen-producing male organs) and one pistil (female organ). The dark purplish dots in the photo below are stamens.

Because each great burnet floret has both male and female organs, they can be self-pollinating, but greater seed production results from cross pollination with the assistance of insects like bees, flies, and butterflies. These insects are attracted by high-energy nectar and high-protein pollen, the latter of which is vital for bee nutrition.

These blossoms are mature and  ready to drop seeds.

Though originally growing from seeds, new great burnet plants grow from an underground rhizome, a type of horizontal stem. After three years of age, rhizomes become mature enough to start producing additional, genetically identical plants. The rhizomes grow slowly, and new plants emerge very close together; sometimes just a fraction of an inch apart. Over the course of decades, a great burnet clump can spread out enough to cover many square meters.

In the late fall and winter, great burnet foliage and stems die out to the ground, though the below-ground rhizomes and roots remain alive. Foliage begins to grow back in the spring, and, as stated earlier, blossom stalks begin to grow in midsummer.

Young great burnet leaves and blossoms are edible raw and can be used as garnishes. The roots and rhizomes have been used in traditional medicine to control heavy bleeding, internal hemorrhages, and bloody stools. Substances extracted from roots are used in various cosmetic and skin care preparations.

Salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor)

A plant closely related to the great burnet is the salad burnet. It is smaller than the great burnet but more frequently used as a food source. Fresh leaves are used to enhance green salads, dressings, cold drinks, vinegars, and egg dishes. It has similar traditional medicinal uses.

Dependent Butterfly Species

As stated earlier, great burnets worldwide have the assistance of butterflies, flies, and bees for pollination. In Europe, however, there is a special connection between the great burnet and two specific, closely related, species of butterflies. Without the great burnet, they wouldn't exist. They are the dusky large blue (Phengaris nausithous) and the scarce large blue (Phengaris teleius). The dusky large blue butterfly is shown below.

The dusky large blue butterfly is a little over an inch across. The photo above shows both sides of a male. The bottom side, the side that is visible when its wings are folded up at rest, is shown in the lower photo. The top side is shown in the upper photo. Female wings are the same on both sides and resemble the bottom-side of male wings.

Both butterfly species have a three-stage life cycle. Their early caterpillar stage and adult butterfly stage are dependent exclusively on the great burnet. Nowhere else. The caterpillars initially feed on the flower heads and seed buds. Adults rely on the nectar.

Artwork

This one features turmeric flowers, poppy seedpods, great burnet, orchid flowers, green tomatoes.