Scientific name: Anagallis arvensis L.
Common name: Scarlet Pimpernel
Description
Habit: A delicate, hairless annual, to 40 cm high.
Stems: Semi-erect or trailing, not rooting at the nodes, 4-angled.
Leaves: Opposite, stalkless, without stipules, 0.5-1.5 cm long, undivided, untoothed, broadly oval or oval-lanceolate, with a pointed tip.
Flowers: Red or blue, actinomorphic, hermaphrodite, solitary in leaf axils, on long and slender flower stalks; sepals 5, fused at the base, 5-lobed, spreading, narrowly triangular to lanceolate; petals 5, fused at the base, 5-lobed, spreading, oval, 4-8 mm; stamens 5, attached to the corolla opposite the corolla lobes; ovary superior, 1-celled, with many ovules.
Fruits: A capsule, globular, opening by splitting from the middle.
Habitat: Sand-dunes, cultivated fields, roadsides, in a variety of dry and open habitats. Distribution: Frequent to rare.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No