''Knautia arvensis'', commonly known as field scabious, is a herbaceous

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the honeysuckle family

Caprifoliaceae The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species, in 33, to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and ea ...

Description

It is a perennial plant that grows between . It prefers grassy places and dry soils, avoiding heavy soils, and flowers between July and September. The flowers are borne on inflorescences in the form of heads; each head contains many small florets. The head is flatter than in similar species, such as devil's bit scabious (''Succisa pratensis'') and small scabious (''Scabiosa columbaria''). There are 4

stamens The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

in each floret, and 1 notched long stigma. The fruit is nut like, cylindrical and hairy, in size. It has a

tap root A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

. The stem has long stiff hairs angled downwards. The leaves form a basal rosette, are paired on the stem, the lowest typically long, spear shaped, whereas the upper are smaller. There are no

stipules In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

Ecology

It is occasionally used by the

marsh fritillary The marsh fritillary (''Euphydryas aurinia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Commonly distributed in the Palearctic region, the marsh fritillary's common name derives from one of its several habitats, marshland. The prolonged larval s ...

as a foodplant instead of its usual foodplant of devils bit scabious (''

Succisa pratensis ''Succisa pratensis'', also known as devil's-bit or devil's-bit scabious, is a flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. It differs from other similar species in that it has four-lobed flowers, whereas small scabious and field s ...

''). It is also the foodplant of the narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth (''

Hemaris tityus ''Hemaris tityus'', the narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae which is native to the Palearctic. Range It has a wide range, from Ireland across temperate Europe to the Ural Mountains, western Siberia, Novosibirsk and t ...

'').

Name

Species of scabious were used to treat

scabies Scabies (; also sometimes known as the seven-year itch) is a contagious skin infestation by the mite ''Sarcoptes scabiei''. The most common symptoms are severe itchiness and a pimple-like rash. Occasionally, tiny burrows may appear on the skin ...

, and many other afflictions of the skin including sores caused by the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...

. The word scabies comes from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''scabere'' 'scratch'. Another name for this plant is gipsy rose. The genus Knautia is named after a 17th-century German botanist, ''

Christian Knaut Christian Knaut (August 16, 1656 – April 11, 1716) was a German physician, botanist and librarian born in Halle an der Saale. His older brother, Christoph Knaut (1638–1694) was also a physician and botanist. He studied medicine at the Unive ...

''.

Habitat

Commonly found on roadsides and field margins, and in

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...

, it is particularly abundant where there is chalk bedrock.Nature Spot - Field Scabious
/ref> Knautia arvensis - harilik äiatar.jpg, Aphantopus hyperantus knautia arvensis pl.jpg, with '' Aphantopus hyperantus'' Bombus sylvarum (male) - Knautia arvensis - Keila2.jpg Knautia arvensis inflorescence (top view) - Keila.jpg knauti_arvensis_blatt.jpeg, leaves XN_Knautia_arvensis_00.jpg, Young fruit Knautia arvensis W.jpg, basal leaf - note that in this species it is lobed, whereas Devils Bit scabious it is not Knautie des champs (Belarus).jpg, In Belarus

References

Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus arvensis {{Dipsacales-stub