Devil's-bit Scabious

Did you know

• The name comes from a legend that the Devil, envious of the plant's medicinal virtues, bit off part of the root — explaining the abruptly truncated rootstock.
• It is the sole larval food plant of the marsh fritillary butterfly, one of Europe's most endangered insects, making its conservation critical.
• Unlike most scabious flowers in the genus Scabiosa, devil's-bit belongs to its own monotypic genus Succisa.
• It was a key ingredient in early modern European medicine, used to treat scabies (giving the broader 'scabious' group their name).
• The densely packed flowerheads each contain up to 50 individual florets, which open from the outside in toward the center.

Color meanings

Uses

• wildlife habitat
• meadow gardening
• traditional medicine