Devilsbit Scabious ‘Succisa pratensis’

The best butterfly plant. Round blue-purple flowers with purple anthers. Species of scabious were used to treat scabies, and other afflictions of the skin including sores caused by the Bubonic Plague.

The word scabies comes from the Latin word for “scratch” (scabere). The short black root was in folk tales bitten off by the devil, angry at the plant’s ability to cure these ailments. Blue dye can be make out of the leaves and flowers.