#scabious

[blooming-lenses]

shining scabious

2024/06/08

[dansnaturepictures]

5th May 2026: Sky this evening, one of my first oxeye daisies at Lakeside of the year on an evening walk there and exciting views of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Crested Grebe with a chick on its back the first glimpses I got of the chicks this year and a Greylag gosling in front of U594 its parent ringed in London which is fascinating and a scabious flower at Lakeside at lunch time. Other highlights today were Moorhen, Coot, Green-veined White, Blue-tailed Damselfly, yellow iris and lesser hop trefoil.

[lost-harts]

June 2025

[yourfavesasflowers]

Would you be willing to do Deadpool a.k.a. Wade Winston Wilson? The Ryan Reynolds films if you need a specific incarnation, but if you have the perfect flower in mind for a specific comic run or something like that, that'd make me happy too :)

Scabious

meaning: Unfortunate love

[mothmiso]

25-08 Winterton-on-Sea (2) (3) by Alasdair Massie

[flowerishness]

Scabiosa gigantea (giant scabious)

What's in a name?

All flowers have a scientific name but many also sport a common name. With the exception of the stinking corpse lily (Rafflesia arnoldii), most of these common names are positive. Thus Helianthus becomes a sunflower and even the lowly Taraxacum officinale is called a dandelion. Now what could be more ego-enhancing that being compared to a well-dressed lion?

Other flowers are more often called by their scientific name. Campanulas may be known as bellflowers but everyone I know calls them campanulas. Similarly, Scabiosa may be called a pincushion plant but most people refer to them as scabiosas.

Scabiosa is a Latin word that refers to the insufferable scabies mite. This tiny human parasite causes unbelievable itching and is usually contracted with prolonged skin-to-skin contact with someone who is already infected (read: In adults it's usually a sexually transmitted disease). Children can also catch scabies from infected clothing and bedding as well as infected cats and dogs (it can cause 'mange' in pets). These days, a doctor will prescribe Kwellada lotion but in ancient times, rubbing the skin with this plant was the only remedy.

I caught scabies when I was nineteen. I was going through a bit of a sexual 'dry spell' at that time and I caught it from someone else's sleeping bag. I went to the doctor, bought a tube of Kwellada lotion, boiled all my bedding and clothing, and the itching was gone in two weeks. I offer this embarrassing confession as a public service announcement. I assure you, @flowerishness will return to less disturbing content tomorrow.

[belfastroadster]

A pair of Six-Spot Burnet moths mating on a Field Scabious flower.

[faguscarolinensis]

Bombus fervidus on Scabiosa caucasica 'Fama Deep Blue' / Golden Northern Bumblebee on 'Fama Deep Blue' Caucasian Pincushion Flower at the Denver Botanic Gardens in Denver, CO