Scabiosa

''Scabiosa'' is a genus in the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae) of flowering plants. Many of the species in this genus have common names that include the word scabious, but some plants commonly known as scabious are currently classified in related genera such as ''Knautia'' and '' Succisa''; at least some of these were formerly placed in ''Scabiosa''. Another common name for members of this genus is pincushion flowers.

Etymology

The common name 'scabious' comes the Latin word ''scabiosus'' meaning 'mangy, rough or itchy' which refers to the herb's traditional usage as a folk medicine to treat scabies, an illness that causes a severe itching sensation.

Description

Some species of ''Scabiosa'' are annuals, others perennials. Some are herbaceous plants; others have woody rootstocks. The leaves of most species are somewhat hairy and partly divided into lobes, but a few are smooth and some species have simple leaves. The flowers are borne on inflorescences in the form of heads; each head contains many small florets, each floret cupped in a membranous, saucer-shaped bract. The calyx has five sepals in the form of awns almost as long as the petals. After the flowers have dropped, the calyces together with the bracts form a spiky ball that may be the reason for the "pincushion" common name. The calyx is persistent and remains as a crown on the fruit after it is shed. The corolla has four to five lobes fringing a narrow funnel with a furry throat, the funnel being somewhat longer than the lobes. The florets have four stamens each, set high in the tube, and sticking out. Each fruit has just one seed.

In a few species the heads are sessile but in most species they are borne singly on a tall peduncle.

''Scabiosa'' species and varieties differ in the colours of their flowers, but most are soft lavender blue, lilac or creamy white.

Taxonomy

It was first published in Species Plantarum on page 98 in 1753.

Species

As accepted by Plants of the World Online;

* ''Scabiosa adzharica''
* ''Scabiosa africana''
* ''Scabiosa albanensis''
* ''Scabiosa amoena''
* ''Scabiosa andryifolia''
* ''Scabiosa angustiloba''
* ''Scabiosa arenaria''
* ''Scabiosa atropurpurea''
* '' Scabiosa austroafricana''
* '' Scabiosa balcanica''
* '' Scabiosa × beauverdiana''
* '' Scabiosa bipinnata''
* '' Scabiosa buekiana''
* '' Scabiosa canescens''
* '' Scabiosa cartenniana''
* '' Scabiosa cephalarioides''
* '' Scabiosa cinerea''
* '' Scabiosa colchica''
* ''Scabiosa columbaria''
* '' Scabiosa comosa''
* ''Scabiosa correvoniana''
* '' Scabiosa corsica''
* ''Scabiosa crinita''
* '' Scabiosa daucoides''
* '' Scabiosa drakensbergensis''
* '' Scabiosa eremophila''
* '' Scabiosa farinosa''
* '' Scabiosa fumarioides''
* ''Scabiosa galianoi''
* '' Scabiosa holosericea''
* '' Scabiosa imeretica''
* '' Scabiosa incisa''
* '' Scabiosa ispartaca''
* '' Scabiosa japonica''
* '' Scabiosa jezoensis''
* '' Scabiosa lacerifolia''
* '' Scabiosa lachnophylla''
* '' Scabiosa libyca''
* ''Scabiosa lucida''
* '' Scabiosa × lucidula''
* '' Scabiosa mollissima''
* '' Scabiosa nitens''
* ''Scabiosa ochroleuca''
* ''Scabiosa owerinii''
* '' Scabiosa paphlagonica''
* '' Scabiosa parielii''
* '' Scabiosa parviflora''
* '' Scabiosa praemontana''
* '' Scabiosa pyrenaica''
* '' Scabiosa semipapposa''
* '' Scabiosa silenifolia''
* '' Scabiosa sirnakia''
* '' Scabiosa sivrihisarica''
* ''Scabiosa solymica''
* '' Scabiosa sosnowskyi''
* '' Scabiosa taygetea''
* '' Scabiosa tenuis''
* '' Scabiosa thysdrusiana''
* '' Scabiosa transvaalensis''
* '' Scabiosa triandra''
* '' Scabiosa triniifolia''
* '' Scabiosa turolensis''
* ''Scabiosa tuzluca''
* '' Scabiosa tysonii''
* '' Scabiosa velenovskiana''
* '' Scabiosa vestina''
* '' Scabiosa webbiana''

Distribution

Members of this genus are native to Africa, Europe and Asia. Some species of ''Scabiosa'', notably small scabious (''S. columbaria'') and Mediterranean sweet scabious (''S. atropurpurea'') have been developed into cultivars for gardeners.

In 1782, a mysterious pale yellow scabious, called '' Scabiosa trenta'', was described by Belsazar Hacquet, an Austrian physician, botanist, and mountaineer, in his work '' Plantae alpinae Carniolicae''. It became a great source of inspiration for later botanists and mountaineers discovering the Julian Alps, especially Julius Kugy. The Austrian botanist Anton Kerner von Marilaun later proved Belsazar Hacquet had not found a new species, but a specimen of the already known submediterranean ''Cephalaria leucantha''.

Ecology

Scabious flowers are nectar rich and attractive to many insects including butterflies and moths such as the six-spot burnet. ''Scabiosa'' species are food plants for the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera such as the grey pug moth.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q147772

Caprifoliaceae genera
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus