Anagallis arvensis

Scarlet pimpernel is typically an annual or short-lived perennial species (3). It flowers from May to late August and is pollinated by visiting insects, which are attracted by means of bright purple hairs inside the flowers which apparently act as lures (5). When it is ripe, the fruit capsule at the centre of the flower splits open, with the top section hinging backwards to allow the release of the tiny seeds within (4). This plant was widely used in the past to treat toothache, liver problems, snake bites and kidney inflammation. As the names 'laughter bringer' and 'shepherd's joy' indicate, it was also used to reduce bouts of melancholia (4).

As the alternative names of shepherd's sundial and shepherd's weather-glass suggest, scarlet pimpernel is well-known for its ability to indicate both the weather and the time of day. The small, bright scarlet flowers open at around 8 am each day, and close at 3 pm. They also close during humid or damp weather (4). This member of the primrose family is a diminutive plant, creeping close to the ground. The egg-shaped leaves are pale green and dotted with black on the undersides (2). The flowers of the subspecies native to Britain (arvensis) are red or pink, but a blue-flowered form (Forma azurea) also occurs, which is often confused with the introduced subspecies blue pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis subsp. foemina) (2). The name pimpernel comes from the Old French pimprenele, the misapplied name of the burnet saxifrage, Pimpinella saxifrage (4).

"Notes: Western Ghats & Eastern Ghats, Moist Deciduous Forests, Open Localities in Grasslands"

arvensis: of cultivated fields

"Maharashtra: Ahmednagar, Kolhapur, Nasik, Pune, Raigad, Satara Karnataka: Chikmagalur, Coorg, Dharwar, Hassan, Mysore, N. Kanara, Shimoga Tamil Nadu: Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Namakkal, Nilgiri, Salem, Tiruvannamalai"

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Sinai (St.Katherine).

Anagallis arvensis var. coerulea (Schreb.) Gren. & Godr.:
Argentina (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Anagallis arvensis fo. coerulea (Schreb.) Arechav.:
Argentina (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Anagallis arvensis var. caerulea Ledeb.:
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Anagallis arvensis L.:
Afghanistan (Asia)
Argentina (South America)
Bolivia (South America)
Brazil (South America)
Bhutan (Asia)
Canada (North America)
Mexico (Mesoamerica)
Honduras (Mesoamerica)
Peru (South America)
Chile (South America)
Guatemala (Mesoamerica)
Ecuador (South America)
Kazakhstan (Asia)
Nepal (Asia)
Pakistan (Asia)
Japan (Asia)
Russian Federation (Asia)
Tajikistan (Asia)
Kyrgyzstan (Asia)
India (Asia)
El Salvador (Mesoamerica)
Costa Rica (Mesoamerica)
United States (North America)
South Africa (Africa & Madagascar)
China (Asia)
Turkmenistan (Asia)
Uzbekistan (Asia)
Venezuela (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

This native plant is common and widespread throughout much of Britain, becoming a rare and mainly coastal species further north, particularly in Scotland (2) (3). Elsewhere this species has a very broad global distribution, being found throughout much of the world, except the tropics (2).

Europe, W. Asia, most N. temperate regions, Himalaya (Kashmir to Nepal), India, Ceylon.

Annual. Stem decumbent to erect, not rooting at the nodes, square in outline. Leaves sessile, opposite-decussate, pale green, 10-16 x 7-12 mm, ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute, upper ones smaller, nerves faint, gland dotted (dots reddish), margin minutely papillose. Flowers solitary axillary, red or blue (or shades of them); pedicel 1.4-2.5 (-3.5) cm long, slender, glandulose (hairs with reddish heads), nodding in bud condition, usually exceeding the subtending leaf. Calyx shortly campanulate; lobes 3.5-4 mm long, ovate-lanceolate, subacuminate, midrid pro¬minent, margin membranous and minutely ciliolate. Corolla rotate; lobes 4-5 mm long, obovate, apex erose-denticulate, glandular-stipitate; the glands 3-celled, with the terminal cell globose. Stamens ± equalling the carpel; filaments 2-2.5 mm long, reddish-pink, basally dilated and connate; glandular, the glands 7-11-celled, pinkish, towards base colourless; anthers 1 mm long, basifixed, yellow, ± apiculate. Ovary globose, less than 1 mm broad; style 2-2.2 mm long, pinkish, persistent. Stigma capitate. Pyxidium globose, 4-5 mm broad. Seeds trigonal, c. 1 mm broad, dark brown, vesiculose.

600-2700 m

Herbs annual or biennial, 10--30 cm tall. Stems quadrangular, short winged on ridges, usually branched from base. Leaves opposite, occasionally in whorls of 3, sessile, ovate to narrowly ovate, 7--18(--25) X 3--12(--15) mm, minutely glandular punctate mainly abaxially, base subrounded, margin entire, apex obtuse or acute. Pedicel recurved in fruit, 2--3 cm. Calyx lobes linear-lanceolate, 3.5--6 mm, hyaline margined, apex long acuminate, costate. Corolla blue or red, rotate, 4--6 mm, parted nearly to base; lobes obovate-elliptic, 2.7--3 mm wide, margin entire to denticulate. Stamens 1/3--1/2 as long as corolla; filaments pubescent. Style ca. 1.5 mm. Capsule ca. 3.5 mm in diam. 2n = 22, 28, 40@.

Occuring in open habitats and typically a weed of arable areas and gardens, scarlet pimpernel is also found around rabbit warrens, on road verges, sand dunes, heaths, chalk downland and on coastal cliffs (2)(3).

Cultivated areas, wasteland, roadsides. Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Japan, Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia; NW Africa, W Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America].

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / pathogen
colony of Alternaria dematiaceous anamorph of Alternaria anagallidis infects and damages girdled stem of Anagallis arvensis

Foodplant / open feeder
larva of Monostegia abdominalis grazes on leaf of Anagallis arvensis
Other: major host/prey

Annual.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 9
Specimens with Barcodes: 28
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: TNR - Not Yet Ranked

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

Common and widespread: not threatened (3).

This species is not threatened.

Conservation action is not required for this very common species.