Scabiosa

scabiosa: see teasel.

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Scabiosa 

(scabious), a genus of herbaceous plants of the family Dipsaceae. The opposite leaves are pinnatipartite, pin-natisect, or—rarely—entire. The flowers are in heads borne by long peduncles, and the bracts of the involucre are herbaceous. There is a double calyx. The corolla has a short tube and an oblique limb; it is enlarged near the marginal flowers. The fruit is an achene.

There are about 100 species, distributed in Eurasia and Africa, mainly in the Mediterranean area. The USSR has about 30 species, which grow primarily in the Caucasus, Middle Asia, the southern part of the European USSR, and Siberia (as far as the Far East). The plants grow in dry meadows, on detritus slopes, in limestone regions, and, less frequently, in light forests. Sometimes they grow as weeds among crops. All species yield a substantial amount of nectar. Two species and their varieties are widely used in floriculture: the Caucasian scabious (S. caucasica), a perennial with large blue flowers, and the sweet scabious (S. atropurpurea), an annual with velvety flowers of various colors.