''Jasione montana'' is a low-growing plant in the family

Campanulaceae The family Campanulaceae (also bellflower family), of the order Asterales, contains nearly 2400 species in 84 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky sap. Among them are several familiar garden plants belon ...

found in rocky places and upland regions of Europe and western Asia. Common names include sheep's-bit, blue bonnets, blue buttons, blue daisy and iron flower. Due to the similarity of the common name of "sheep's-bit" with that of devil's-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 sometimes called "sheep's-bit scabious" or "sheep scabious", but it is not related to the scabiouses (Dipsacoideae,

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 ...

Distribution and habitat

This plant is found in the north temperate zone of Europe, west Asia and north Africa. It is a plant growing on heaths and moors in rocky or sandy districts, coastal cliffs, quarries and natural escarpments where the soil is thin.Harwood, A. R. ''British Wild Flowers In Their Natural Haunts'' Vol 5–6. It prefers acid soils and is absent from limestone regions. It is often found on coastal cliffs in association with thrift and

kidney vetch ''Anthyllis vulneraria'', the common kidneyvetch, kidney vetch or woundwort is a medicinal plant native to Europe. The name ''vulneraria'' means "wound healer". Description ''Anthyllis vulneraria'' reaches of height. The stem is simple or more ...

and blooms from May to September.

Description

Sheep's bit scabious is a low

biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...

or occasionally

annual Annual may refer to: * Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook ** Literary annual * Annual plant * Annual report * Annual giving * Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco * Annuals (b ...

plant growing up to about one foot tall with suberect stems that branch near the base. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are linear,

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

, narrow at the base, sinuate, stiffly hairy and forming a rosette. The small violet-blue flowers are in small heads. The bracts are smooth or hairy and the petals have narrow lobes. There are 5 oblong anthers which unite at the base forming a tube, a feature that differentiates this plant from true scabiouses. The individual florets open successively. The anthers ripen first and later the styles elongate and the two-lobed stigmas are displayed. This make self-pollination less likely. There are nectaries in the upper part of the ovaries and many insects visit the flowers. Some fifty species of bees and wasps, thirty species of

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

, thirty species of butterflies and moths and several

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s have been recorded as visiting the flowers, and therefore this plant is characterized by a generalized

pollination syndrome Pollination syndromes are suites of flower traits that have evolved in response to natural selection imposed by different pollen vectors, which can be abiotic (wind and water) or biotic, such as birds, bees, flies, and so forth through a process c ...

. The flowers are visible under

ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...

light and it is believed that this makes them attractive to pollinating insects. They do not show a traditional bull's-eye pattern to guide the insect but the ultraviolet reflectance of the petals is very high.Ultraviolet flowers
/ref>

References

External links

''Jasione montana''''Jasione montana''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q245982

montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus