Field Scabious

(Knautia arvensis)

 

Color drawing: C. A. M. Lindman (1901-1905), Bilder ur Nordens Flora.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis)

Alien: Native of Europe.

Identification: Flowers pink to lavender, petals with 4 lobes. Flowers grouped into a composite type head, head flat. Petals interspersed with fine hairs. Stems and leaves without spines, but with fine hairs. Upper leaves pinnately lobed, lobes become less defined further down the stem, and basal leaves unlobed. Plant 1 to 3 feet in height. Amount of subdivision of the leaves variable.

Distribution: Southern Canada, southward to New England, Pennsylvania, and Illinois in the east, and into the Rocky Mountains in the west.

Habitat: Field Scabious is a weedy species found in empty lots, fields, and along roadsides.

Flowering period: June to August.

Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis)

Similar Species:

The 4-lobed petals of the pink, flat flower heads and the pinnately lobed leaves are distinctive features of Field Scabious.

Similar Species

No Similar Species