Scabiosa [ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607] is a genus in the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae) of .
Etymology
The common name 'scabious' comes the Latin word
scabiosus meaning 'mangy, rough or itchy' which refers to the herb's traditional usage as a
folk medicine to treat
scabies, an illness that causes a severe itching sensation.
[Umberto Quattrocchi ]
Description
Some species of
Scabiosa are
Annual plant, others
perennial plant. Some are
; others have woody
. The leaves of most species are somewhat hairy and partly divided into lobes, but a few are smooth and some species have simple leaves. The flowers are borne on
in the form of
Pseudanthium; each head contains many small florets, each floret cupped in a membranous, saucer-shaped bract. The
Sepal has five
in the form of awns almost as long as the petals. After the flowers have dropped, the
Sepal together with the bracts form a spiky ball that may be the reason for the "pincushion" common name. The calyx is persistent and remains as a crown on the fruit after it is shed. The
petal has four to five lobes fringing a narrow funnel with a furry throat, the funnel being somewhat longer than the lobes. The florets have four stamens each, set high in the tube, and sticking out. Each fruit has just one seed.
In a few species the heads are sessile but in most species they are borne singly on a tall peduncle.
Scabiosa species and varieties differ in the colours of their flowers, but most are soft lavender blue, lilac or creamy white.
Taxonomy
It was first published in Species Plantarum on page 98 in 1753.
Species
As accepted by Plants of the World Online;
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Scabiosa adzharica
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Scabiosa africana
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Scabiosa albanensis
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Scabiosa amoena
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Scabiosa andryifolia
-
Scabiosa angustiloba
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Scabiosa arenaria
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Scabiosa atropurpurea
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Scabiosa austroafricana
-
Scabiosa balcanica
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Scabiosa × beauverdiana
-
Scabiosa bipinnata
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Scabiosa buekiana
-
Scabiosa canescens
-
Scabiosa cartenniana
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Scabiosa cephalarioides
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Scabiosa cinerea
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Scabiosa colchica
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Scabiosa columbaria
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Scabiosa comosa
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Scabiosa correvoniana
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Scabiosa corsica
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Scabiosa crinita
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Scabiosa daucoides
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Scabiosa drakensbergensis
-
Scabiosa eremophila
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Scabiosa farinosa
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Scabiosa fumarioides
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Scabiosa galianoi
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Scabiosa holosericea
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Scabiosa imeretica
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Scabiosa incisa
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Scabiosa ispartaca
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Scabiosa japonica
-
Scabiosa jezoensis
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Scabiosa lacerifolia
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Scabiosa lachnophylla
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Scabiosa libyca
-
Scabiosa lucida
-
Scabiosa × lucidula
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Scabiosa mollissima
-
Scabiosa nitens
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Scabiosa ochroleuca
-
Scabiosa owerinii
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Scabiosa paphlagonica
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Scabiosa parielii
-
Scabiosa parviflora
-
Scabiosa praemontana
-
Scabiosa pyrenaica
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Scabiosa semipapposa
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Scabiosa silenifolia
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Scabiosa sirnakia
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Scabiosa sivrihisarica
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Scabiosa solymica
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Scabiosa sosnowskyi
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Scabiosa taygetea
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Scabiosa tenuis
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Scabiosa thysdrusiana
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Scabiosa transvaalensis
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Scabiosa triandra
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Scabiosa triniifolia
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Scabiosa turolensis
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Scabiosa tuzluca
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Scabiosa tysonii
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Scabiosa velenovskiana
-
Scabiosa vestina
-
Scabiosa webbiana
Distribution
Members of this genus are native to Africa, Europe and Asia. Some species of
Scabiosa, notably
small scabious (
S. columbaria) and Mediterranean sweet scabious (
S. atropurpurea) have been developed into cultivars for gardeners.
In 1782, a mysterious pale yellow scabious, called "Scabiosa trenta", was described by Belsazar Hacquet, an Austrian physician, botanist, and mountaineer, in his work Plantae alpinae Carniolicae. It became a great source of inspiration for later botanists and mountaineers discovering the Julian Alps, especially Julius Kugy. The Austrian botanist Anton Kerner von Marilaun later proved Belsazar Hacquet had not found a new species, but a specimen of the already known submediterranean Cephalaria leucantha.
They are found in various habitats such as Scabiosa solymica (formerly named Lomelosia solymica), which is a chasmophyte (a plant adapted to growing in crevices or hollows) of montane, sea facing cliffs of the Tahtalı Dağı (mountain) in the western Taurus Mountains, south of Antalya, Turkey.
Ecology
Scabious flowers are nectar rich and attractive to many insects including
butterflies and
such as the
six-spot burnet.
Scabiosa species are food plants for the
of some species of
Lepidoptera such as the
grey pug moth.
