Lesser Stitchwort, Common Knapweed and Eyebright

All of these were in the same meadow near Monmouth.

Lesser Stitchwort, Stellaria graminea

I found this on a meadow pathway. The main ID feature for me is the five petals split almost to the base.

The petals are very variable in size. Bracts, thin and papery in texture, are whitish with a green midrib.

Common Knapweed, Centaurea nigra

Common in this meadow and very popular with pollinators is this native plant from the Asteraceae family. Most of the folk names come from the hard knob-like heads, the toughness of the plant and the bottle shaped involucre: Loggerheads in Somerset, Shaving Brush in Shropshire and Tarbottle in Oxfordshire. 

The name Bachelor's Buttons in Ireland came from the romantic idea that when a girl put inside her blouse a flower head from which she had removed all the open florets, if within an hour some more opened, love was not far away and would come from the right person!

The thistle-like reddish-purple flowers grow singly at the top of the stem. The bracts form a globular head below the florets, with the flower stalk immediately below that distinctly swollen. The leaf is strap-shaped.

Eyebright, Euphrasia spp

This plant, from the Orobanchaceae family, varies a lot in stature. There are according to Harrap's Wild Flowers 18 closely related species and 71 wild hybrids. This one is tiny, compact and abundant here. The corolla is two lipped with the lower lip split into three notched lobes.

 

As with so many folk remedies the shape and colour of the flower suggested its use: to brighten the eye and cure any disease in it. Grigson in The Englishman's  Flora says it was used for these purposes from the Middle Ages. Coles in 1657 wrote "purple and yellow spots and stripes very much resemble diseases of the eye, as bloodshot, etc." 

This brings me to Day 158 of #365DaysofBotany. Lockdown meant I could no longer post daily as I started going out only a couple of times a week and eventually I had used most of the wild flowers in the garden. I am posting seven plants seen within the week, each week, keeping to the spirit of what I set out to do. Always interested in plants through the ages, I have included history and folklore. 

 

Thank you very much for reading it and all the likes and retweets. Very much appreciated!