Two types of Scabious wildflowers can be seen on the Wildlife Site: Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis) and Devils Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis). Both are described as Near Threatened on the England Red List of vascular plants.
Field Scabious is a tall plant that has conspicuous pale bluish-lilac coloured flowers, which are very attractive to a variety of butterflies and other insects. A few Field Scabious plants can be seen alongside the public footpath at the top of the hay meadow, Field 1, from July to September. Field Scabious are usually found in limestone areas unlike the hay meadows which have slightly acid soils. Perhaps its presence here is due to the limestone footpath nearby.
Devil's-bit scabious has small rounded, lilac-blue flower, held on long stems. They can be seen near the public footpath at the top end of the hay meadows particularly on the banking towards the Eastern end of Field 2. It blooms later than many other wild flowers, between July and October, and is attractive to insects.
Photographs of Scabious
Click on the photograph for larger images and captions.
Further Information
For further information on the species in this group, please click the links below:
Field Scabious Devil's Bit Scabious
