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~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: scabious

246/365 On the scabious

03 Tuesday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bees, Devil's-bit scabious, hoverflies, insects on scabious, Painted Lady, scabious, Small white butterfly

190903 devil's-bit scabious (1)

At this time of year, the delicate lilac tinge of Devil’s-bit scabious casts its imperial purple shadow across the meadows at Cosmeston and at Lavernock. I love it, and I’m not the only one.

190903 devil's-bit scabious (7)

It’s proving extremely popular as a late-summer early-autumn source of nectar for all manner of bees, butterflies and hoverflies. Here are a few I’ve seen in recent days …

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229/365 Field scabious

17 Saturday Aug 2019

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

British wildflowers, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Field scabious, Knautia arvensis, scabious, wildflowers

190817 field scabious

Most of the scabious I see in local parks and reserves is Devil’s-bit but there is a small area of Field scabious (Knautia arvensis) at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. The insects love it for its nectar and the birds, in autumn, for its seeds. Can you see what’s lurking on the stem?

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Bumble- or humble-bee?

24 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

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Tags

bumblebee, bumblebee on flowers, Hemp agrimony, humblebee, knapweed, scabious

180824 bumblebee (1)

Bumble: verb; move or act in an awkward or confused manner (Oxford Dictionary).
Personally, I think it’s a bit sad that the beautiful bumblebee is associated with confusion and awkwardness of movement, though I admit they can seem rather stupid when they fly in the open windows of my apartment and then bump repeatedly against the glass trying to get out again. Most other insects seem able to work out where the open window is.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

When it comes to finding nourishment though, they seem perfectly able to home directly in on the next delicious flower. And I’ve recently discovered that the bumblebee wasn’t always so named – it was originally the humblebee, not because it was considered modest or lowly but rather because of the humming sound it makes as it flies along.

180824 bumblebee (3)
180824 bumblebee (4)
180824 bumblebee (5)
180824 bumblebee (6)
180824 bumblebee (7)
180824 bumblebee (8)

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Wildflowers at Barry Docks

21 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by sconzani in autumn, flowers, nature, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Barry Docks, British wildflowers, Common toadflax, Daisy, Hemp agrimony, Hoary mustard, Ragwort, Red valerian, scabious, Wild parsnip, wildflowers, Yellow-wort

I caught the train to Barry Docks last Friday, hoping to get a good look at an uncommon bird (a Great northern diver) that had been making itself at home there for the previous week or so.

171121 Barry Docks

Unfortunately, the bird spent most of the two hours I was there happily swimming and diving several hundred yards away on the other side of the dock, but it was a gloriously sunny day and I did find lots of lovely wildflowers still in bloom around the edge of the docks so I was happy.

171121 Scabious sp
171121 Common toadflax
171121 Red valerian
171121 Daisy
171121 Ragwort sp
171121 Hoary mustard
171121 Wild parsnip
171121 Cow parsley
171121 Yellow-wort
171121 Hemp agrimony
171121 Bindweed sp
171121 Sow-thistle sp

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What’s on the scabious?

16 Saturday Sep 2017

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bumblebee, Comma, Devil's-bit scabious, hoverflies, insects on scabious, scabious, Six-spot burnet, Small tortoiseshell, Small white

Perhaps it would be easier to ask ‘What’s not on the scabious?’ because it seems that almost every type of fly, bee, butterfly and beetle loves this plant, though that may also be because the Devil’s-bit scabious flowers in late summer – early autumn, when most wildflowers have finished flowering, and so it provides a last delicious taste of summer’s sweetness.

170916 6-spot burnet
170916 beetle
170916 Bumble bee
170916 comma
170916 Common carder & hoverfly
170916 helophilus pendulus
170916 Meadow brown
170916 Melanostoma scalare
170916 Sericomyia silentis
170916 Small tortoiseshell
170916 Small white
170916 unidentified bee
170916 unidentified hoverfly (2)
170916 unidentified hoverfly (3)
170916 unidentified hoverfly (4)
170916 unidentified hoverfly (5)
170916 unidentified hoverfly
170916 Volucella zonaria

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Devil’s-bit scabious

15 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British flora, British wildflowers, Devil's-bit scabious, scabious, Succisa pratensis

There are several species of scabious – and I love them all – but the scabious I’m seeing most in my local nature reserves is the Devil’s-bit (Succisa pratensis).

170915 devil's-bit scabious (7)

Apparently, the scabious name is due to the rough stalks of these plants and dates to times past when scabious was used to treat scabies because people believed in the ‘signature of all things’ – not Elizabeth Gilbert’s latest book but that of Jakob Böhme, who presented the idea, in 1622, that God had imprinted prescriptions for human ailments in the shapes and forms of medicinal plants – thus, rough stalk = rough skin. The ‘Devil’s-bit’ comes from the fact that this plant’s roots have a short, bitten off look.

170915 devil's-bit scabious (1)
170915 devil's-bit scabious (2)
170915 devil's-bit scabious (3)

Massed displays of Devil’s-bit scabious lend a purplish tinge to the landscape but it’s the flowers I love best. They begin as fairies’ pincushions and bloom into luscious globular gloriousness.

170915 devil's-bit scabious (4)
170915 devil's-bit scabious (5)
170915 devil's-bit scabious (6)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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