| Scarlet pimpernel | ||||||||||||||||
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| Anagallis arvensis L. |
Scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis; also known as red pimpernel, red chickweed, poorman's barometer, shepherd's weather glass or shepherd's clock) is a low-growing annual plant found in Europe, Asia and North America. Although traditionally included in the family Primulaceae, Anagallis is now considered to be better placed within the related family Myrsinaceae (Källersjö et al., 1999). The barometer (weather glass) common names have their origin in the fact that the flowers close when atmospheric pressure decreases and bad weather is approaching.
This common European plant is generally considered a weed and is an indicator of light soils.
It is most well known for being the emblem of the fictional hero The Scarlet Pimpernel.
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Description
Scarlet pimpernel has weak sprawling stems growing to about 50 cm long, which bear bright green ovate sessile leaves in opposite pairs. The small orange, red or blue flowers are produced in the leaf axils from spring till autumn. The petal margins are somewhat crenate and have small glandular hairs. Blue-flowered plants (A. arvensis Forma azurea) are common in some areas, such as the Mediterranean region, and should not be confused with the related Blue pimpernel, Anagallis foemina, sometimes treated as a subspecies, Anagallis arvensis ssp. foemina.
References
- Blanchan, Neltje (2005). Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
- Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd (1898) King's American Dispensatory.
- Mari Källersjö, Gullevi Bergqvist and Arne A. Anderberg (2000). "Generic realignment in primuloid families of the Ericales s.l.: a phylogenetic analysis based on DNA sequences from three chloroplast genes and morphology". American Journal of Botany 87: 1325–1341. doi:. (full pdf.text)
- Ulrika Manns and Arne A. Anderberg (2005). "Molecular Phylogeny of Anagallis (Myrsinaceae) Based on ITS, trnL-F, and ndhF Sequence Data". International Journal of Plant Sciences 166: 1019–1028. doi:.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anagallis arvensis |
Image gallery
 Plants of A. arvensis growing in disturbed ground |
 Typical orange flower |
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 A. arvensis Forma azurea |
 A. arvensis and A. arvensis Forma azurea |
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