Anagallis arvensis seed

LATIN NAME: Anagallis arvensis

COMMON NAME: Scarlet Pimpernel

Scarlet pimpernel is the small, bright, scarlet-flowered plant of the waysides and the fields, and its tiny, five-petalled, scarlet-red flowers have made it a familiar of the countryside for a very long time. The low, spreading plant carries the small, oval, paired leaves, and the small, five-petalled, scarlet-red flowers open in the sunshine through the summer, closing in the dull weather. The plant has a long and careful record in the old practice of the region, and it is a fine, easy, self-sowing plant of the sunny wayside and the wildflower patch. It is a plant of the ordinary, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

Scarlet pimpernel has a well-documented place in the plant science, and it has been studied for its bright, scarlet flowers and its long record in the traditional practice of the old world. The tiny, five-petalled flowers and the way they open and close with the light have been studied closely, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the wayside plants and the plants of the old practice. The small, paired leaves and the low, spreading habit have also made it a fine garden plant, and it is a regular subject of the studies of the field flowers and the traditional herbs.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

Scarlet pimpernel is grown for the tiny, scarlet-red flowers. The small, five-petalled flowers open in the sunshine through a long season, and they are a fine, cheerful addition to the sunny border, the wildflower patch and the wayside planting. The plant is a generous, easy, self-sowing annual, and the small flowers pull in the tiny bees and the hoverflies. It has been written up in the botanical and the herbal papers for its long history of use, and it is a fine, easy plant of the ordinary, well-drained ground.

Scarlet pimpernel is a fine, easy, cheerful little plant of the wayside, and it seeds itself about freely in the sunny, open ground. The tiny, scarlet-red flowers open in the sunshine through a very long season, giving a fine, bright show.

In the right spot the scarlet pimpernel is a fine, dependable, long-flowering little plant, and it asks for very little beyond the sun and the open, well-drained ground. The tiny, scarlet-red flowers keep opening through the summer, and the plant seeds itself about freely for the next season.

The scarlet pimpernel is a fine, easy, cheerful little annual of the open ground, and it is a dependable, generous self-sower of the sunny border and the wayside. The tiny, scarlet-red flowers open in the sunshine over a very long season, and the low, spreading plants give a fine, bright, easy show.

To grow the scarlet pimpernel from seed, sprinkle the fine seeds over trays of moist, free-draining soil and press them in lightly, keep them in a bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings are up before long and grow on fast. With the sun and the ordinary, well-drained soil, the tiny, scarlet-red flowers will be there through the summer, opening in the sunshine.

Anagallis arvensis

Scarlet Pimpernel

Primulaceae: A low-growing, hairless annual of cultivated and disturbed ground. The flowers are 10-15mm across with 5 scarlet or pinkish-orange (sometimes blue) petals fringed with hairs, on slender stalks, and opening wide only in bright sunshine, blooming from June-August. The leaves are oval, usually in pairs. Native to Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The species has been distributed widely by humans, either deliberately as an ornamental flower or accidentally. A. arvensis is now naturalised almost worldwide, with a range that encompasses the Americas, Central and East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, Malesia, the Pacific Islands, Australasia and Southern Africa.

USES:

The leaves are used raw or cooked. Used in salads like spinach. The tender shoots are cooked as a vegetable.

The scarlet pimpernel was at one time highly regarded as a medicinal herb, especially in the treatment of epilepsy and mental problems. The whole herb has antitussive, cholagogue, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, nervine, purgative, stimulant and vulnerary properties.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Surface sow seed in spring in situ.

Prefers a sunny position and a good soil. Succeeds in dry or sandy soils. The flowers open at about 8 am and close at 3pm each day, though they close earlier if it rains. The flowers are also said to foretell wet weather if they close early.