Lysimachia arvensis (L.) U.Manns & Anderb.
Poor Man's Weather Glass
Scarlet Pimpernel is a low, spreading annual of open, disturbed ground, long established in Britain as an archaeophyte introduced with early agriculture. Its slender, four-angled stems trail across bare soil, carrying pairs of small, pointed oval leaves and, from the leaf axils, long-stalked star-shaped flowers.
About
Scarlet Pimpernel is a low, spreading annual of open, disturbed ground, long established in Britain as an archaeophyte introduced with early agriculture. Its slender, four-angled stems trail across bare soil, carrying pairs of small, pointed oval leaves and, from the leaf axils, long-stalked star-shaped flowers. These are most often a warm salmon-scarlet, though a blue-flowered form occurs, and they famously close up in dull weather or as the day wears on, earning the plant names such as poor man's weather-glass and shepherd's clock.
It flowers over a long season from late spring into autumn on arable fields, gardens, sand dunes, tracks and other warm, bare places, preferring well-drained soils in full sun. As a fast colonist of cultivated ground it can appear suddenly wherever soil is turned. The flowers offer pollen and modest nectar to small bees and flies; do note that the foliage is toxic to people and livestock if eaten.
Also known as
Scarlet Pimpernel · Shepherd's Calendar · Shepherd's Weather-Glass · bird's-eye · blue pimpernel
Synonyms
Anagallis arvensis arvensis · Anagallis phoenicia
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