Succisa pratensis var. subacaulis(Bernardin) P.D.Sell
Succisa prativagaJord. & Fourr.
Succisa proceraJord. & Fourr.
Succisa properaJord. & Fourr.
Succisa pyrenaicaJord. & Fourr.
Succisa rhodanensisJord. & Fourr.
Succisa sabaudaJord. & Fourr.
Succisa strictaJord. & Fourr.
Succisa subacaulisBernardin
Succisa sylvaticaJord. & Fourr.
Succisa tardansJord. & Fourr.
Succisa viretorumJord. & Fourr.
Succisa vogesiacaJord. & Fourr.
Succisa vulgarisJ.Presl & C.Presl
Succisa pratensis, known as devil's-bit scabious or simply devil's-bit, is a flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae, formerly usually included in the family Dipsacaceae. It is common throughout northern Europe and western Asia in heathland, unimproved damp grassland and chalk or limestone grassland and, where it is restricted to nutrient-poor soils. It has decreased somewhat due to agricultural intensification in many areas, but remains widespread and even common throughout its range. Its name derives from the curiously truncated root, which in ancient times was thought to be associated with magical or medicinal properties.
The root of a mature devil's-bit scabious, showing the premorse (bitten-off) taproot.
Devil's-bit scabious is a perennialherbaceous plant, sometimes growing to 1m (3 ft) or more tall but often much smaller, for example just a few centimetres in montane heathland or Scottish machair.[2] The stem is erect to ascending, often somewhat arched, roughly hairy and unbranched. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, the basal ones being about 15cm (exceptionally up to 30 cm) long, ovate and sometimes slightly toothed; the stem leaves being smaller and narrower, lanceolate, connate, and shortly sheathing around the stem. All the leaves have winged petioles up to 2cm long and are also roughly hairy.[3] A curious feature of this plant is the taproot, which grows to about 5 mm thickness in its first year and then becomes woody and dies away at the tip, leaving a premorse stump that produces shallower-growing lateral roots in the second year.[4][5]
The leaves are connate and shortly sheathing around the stem.First year plants have a full-length taproot.
Inflorescences are either terminal or in the leaf axils and consist of one, three or sometimes more compound flower heads or capitula, each of which contain 30-50 bluish to violet (occasionally pink or white) flowers in a tightly-packed, almost hemispherical dome 15-25mm across. Below the flowerhead there are two rows of green involucral bracts up to 10 mm long. The receptacle is up to 10 mm across and slightly elongated. Within the flowerhead there are numerous ciliate scales and as many flowers, which are made up of an epicalyx or "involucel" which is formed from 4 fused bracteoles, a calyx tube with 4 lobes terminated by 4-5 black bristles, and a corolla up to 7 mm long, also with 4 lobes. All the flowers are similar as they are not divided into ray and disc florets.[6][5]
Dissected base of a single flower, showing the epicalyx and calyx.
The flowers are all bisexual (hermaphroditic), but on a proportion of flowerheads a majority of anthers may be abortive, thus creating the impression of gynodioecy. They are also protandrous, which means the male parts mature first, followed by the female. This adds to the appearance of dioecy. In fact the flowers all produce 4 stamens with very long filaments and purple anthers, and one style with a cream-coloured stigma. The fruit is a small achene, about 0.5 mm long.[5]
Taxonomy
Linnaeus named this species Scabiosa succisa in Species Plantarum, 1753. It was then moved to the genus Succisa by Conrad Moench in 1794 and renamed Succisa pratensis.[7] Modern books separate the genus Succisa from Scabiosa by the number of corolla lobes, but that is not the distinction that Moench made.
The scientific name comes from the Latin succisus, which means cut down or truncated, while pratensis means "of the meadow". Linnaeus's name for it, Scabiosa, derives from the Latin verb scabo, scabere:[8] "to scratch." The "devil's-bit" name is sometimes said to refer to the devil biting off the root, or to its use in treating devil's bites, or scabies.[9]
There are no recorded hybrids of devil's-bit scabious,[10] but numerous subspecies and varieties have been described. Adams (1955)[6] describes several of these and reports how most of the characters are quickly lost in cultivation, which suggests that they are merely ecotypes. Some authorities still claim to recognise some regional subspecies, such as var. subcaulis(Bernardin.) P.D. Sell from Cornwall and the Scottish isles, and var. ovalis (Ruoy) P.D. Sell, which only occurs at Pixey Mead in Oxfordshire,[5] but these are not widely accepted.[1]
Devil's-bit scabious is common throughout most of the British Isles, western and central Europe,[12] extending eastwards into central Asia, and it has been introduced to eastern North America. There has been no change in its range or distribution in Britain since the 1950s, but it is believed to have decreased in abundance and declined locally due to intensification of agriculture in the late 20th century.[13][14] In northern and western counties it is considered to be ubiquitous on all soils and at all altitudes, while in the south and east it is highly restricted to areas with suitable soils.[2][15]
Although its status globally has not been assessed by the IUCN,[16] most countries consider devil's-bit not to be threatened and have given it a status of LC (least concern).[17] In Britain its overall status is also LC,[13] but in most English counties it is thought to be at least in a long-term decline.[15][18]
Ecology
It grows in wet or dry grassland and heath on acid or basic soils[3] and is found in hedgerows, marshes, meadows and pastures.[19]
Its Ellenberg values in Britain are L = 7, F = 7, R = 5, N = 2, and S = 0, which show that it favours damp, reasonably sunny places with neutral soils and very low fertility, and that it does not tolerate salt.[20]
The flowers are visited by various types of insects, but especially frequently by hoverflies of the genus Eristalis.[21] It is a good source of nectar, and is the larval food plant of the marsh fritillary,[22] the eggs of which are laid in groups on the underside of the plant, and the narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth (Hemaris tityus). As both invertebrates are rare,[23][24] their survival relies on careful management of sites containing these plant and butterfly species.
Its conservation is best promoted by an uneven patchwork of short and long vegetation by the end of the grazing period, between 8 and 25cm (3.1 and 9.8in). This can be achieved through low intensity grazing (also known as extensive grazing) using cattle. Sheep are not so good as they are more efficient at removing wild plants.[27]
In culture
Allen and Hatfield[9] describe how the truncated root of devil's-bit may have inspired belief in its magical properties, and led to its use as treatment for 'devil's bites' (scabies). They also claim it had a "well-founded reputation as an antiseptic" in Britain and the Isle of Man.
Nicholas Culpeper referred to devil's-bit as Marsus Diaboli and claimed that it was useful to take away swellings in the mouth. He wrote that there was not "a more present remedy in the world for those cold swellings in the neck which the vulgar call the 'almonds of the ears' than this herb bruised and applied to them".[28] "Almonds of the ears" is an old name for the tonsils.[29]
References
1 2 "Succisa pratensis Moench". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
↑ Stace, C.A. (1975). Hybridization and the Flora of the British Isles. London: Academic Press. ISBN0-12-661650-7.
↑ Usborne Spotter's Handbook of Birds, Trees, Wildflowers
↑ Blamey, Marjorie; Grey-Wilson, Christopher (1989). The Illustrated Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. London [: Hodder & Stoughton. p.386. ISBN0-340-40170-2.
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