Euphrasia pectinata Seeds | Eyebright
LATIN NAME: Euphrasia pectinata
COMMON NAME: Eyebright, Euphrasia
Plant Profile
Eyebright is a small annual of the broomrape family, native to the grasslands and meadows of northern China, Mongolia and Siberia, and one of a group of plants that have been used as eye remedies since the Greeks. It grows five to thirty centimetres, with opposite, toothed leaves and tiny two-lipped flowers, white with a lilac upper lip and a yellow throat, from July to September.
The plant is semi-parasitic. Its roots form small connections, called haustoria, with the roots of the grasses and sedges around it, and it draws water and nutrients from them. It can complete its life without a host, but it stays small and flowers poorly, and in a meadow it is always found growing through grass rather than on bare ground.
Science & Biotechnology
The seed is tiny and needs a chemical signal before it will germinate. It responds to strigolactones released by the roots of a potential host, the same compounds that trigger the germination of Striga and Orobanche, and without that signal it stays dormant in the soil. This is why eyebright is almost impossible to establish on bare compost and easy to raise when it is sown with grass.
The genus is one of the most difficult in the European flora. Euphrasia pectinata is part of a complex of closely related annuals that differ in hairiness, leaf shape and flower size, and the number of recognised species has ranged from a dozen to over three hundred. Modern treatments use chromosome counts and molecular markers, but the group still defeats a simple key, since many of the differences are ecotypic rather than species-level.
Uses & Benefits
Eyebright has a long record in European herbal medicine, where it was used as a wash and a tea for tired, inflamed eyes, and the name itself refers to that use. The plant contains iridoids, particularly aucubin, together with tannins and flavonoids, and herbalists still use it in compresses and in combination with other herbs.
Its other value is ecological. It is an indicator of old, species-rich grassland, and its presence in a meadow is a sign that the sward has not been ploughed or heavily fertilised. It is also a nectar source for small bees and hoverflies late in the season, when the meadow has little else in flower, and conservation groups include it in seed mixes for meadow restoration.
Growing from Seed
Sow in autumn, on the surface of a pot of soil that already contains grass seed, since the seedling needs a host root within a few weeks of germinating. Mix the seed with a pinch of sand to spread it evenly, press it onto the surface and do not cover it; it needs light.
Keep the pot outdoors through winter, since the seed needs a period of cold and damp to break dormancy, and water it from below to avoid washing the seed away. Germination is erratic and may not come until spring. Never transplant the seedlings: they die if the root connection is broken. Let the plants set seed in late summer, and they will return in the same pot for years if the grass is kept short.
Our Take
A meadow annual that cannot be grown without grass, and the classic eye herb of the European tradition. Sow it with a host and leave it alone.
Related Reading
Gardeners who grow Eyebright often pair it with these related subjects: