Devils-bit Scabious – The plant bitten by the devil
August, botanically speaking, is very much the ‘back-end’ of the year. Long gone are the days of May, June and early July, where each week brought more and more plants into flower. Most of these plants which brightened the countryside in late spring and early summer have now fruited and set seed.
It is not just keen amateur botanists like me who are seeking out late summer flowering plants to study, but more importantly foraging insects, such as butterflies, bees and hoverflies. Enter stage left, the Scabious and Teasel family (Dipsacaceae) including Field and Small Scabious, and Wild and Small Teasel. They, like the Daisy family, (Asteraceae) have composite flowers, each flower head or inflorescence being made up of multiple small flowers or florets.
Perhaps my favourite from the family, flowering the second half of August is Devil’s-bit Scabious. The best place to see this in flower locally is at the Sun Lane nature reserve in Burley-in-Wharfedale. Where you can also find both Wild and Small Teasel. Devil’s-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) has stunningly beautiful pincushion lilac-blue flower heads, which attract a wide variety of insects. Its leaves are long and oval, and differ from those of Field Scabious, which are dark green, hairy and deeply lobed.
Friends and fellow naturalists often ask – ‘how did it arrive at its strange name?’
Scabious comes from the Latin ‘Scabere’, meaning to scratch. This also gives us the medical term ‘Scabies’. This is caused by a small parasitic mite that burrows into the skin, and causes intense itching, especially at night, and a raised rash or spots, particularly between the fingers. The Field Scabious with its coarse hairy leaves was used to rub on the rash and help relieve the severe irritation. Unfortunately, it was not a cure, and for further information about diagnosis and treatment I refer you to the NHS website – www.nhs.uk/conditions/scabies/
Now for the Devil’s-bit, for this you will have to dig up a root *. The tap root appears abruptly truncated, a bit like a half-eaten carrot. According to legend the Devil was not best pleased with the ways that people were using this versatile plant and tried to destroy it by biting the root off. The scientific reason for this appearance, is the root rots from the tip as it ages, giving the truncated appearance.
Summer is not yet over, and like the members of the Teasel family there is still certainly plenty to see. The foraging insects are storing up energy for the winter ahead. Get out on every warm dry day you can, so you too can store memories and photographs of summer, for the colder months ahead.
*Make sure you have the landowner's permission before uprooting the plant.