Scientific name: Euphrasia scottica Wettst.
Common name: Eyebright
Description
Habit: A small hemiparasitic annual, to 25 cm high.
Stems: Erect; with 0-4 pairs of long, erect or semi-erect branches.
Leaves: Stalkless, toothed and without stipules, sometimes tinged purple on lowerside; lower leaves opposite.
Flowers: White with yellow patch on the lower lip, zygomorphic, hermaphrodite, stalkless in axils of upper leaves often forming a loose and terminal spike, lowest flower at node 3-6; calyx of 4 sepals fused, with 4 undivided and finely pointed lobes; corolla of 4 petals fused into 2-lips, 4.5-6.5 mm, across, with a slender corolla tube, upper lip 2-lobed, lower lip deeply 3-lobed with notched lobes; stamens 4, borne on corolla tube; ovary superior, 2-celled, style 1.
Fruits: A capsule with many seeds, twice as long as broad, with long fine hairs, shortly but distinctly notched.
Euphrasia is a difficult group, the species boundaries complicated by hybridisation. Several plants are necessary for identification.
Habitat: Fens, bog or moorland, flushed areas.Distribution: Frequent in the limestone lowlands, occasional elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No