Scabiosa atropurpurea

Scabiosa atropurpurea L. (syn.: Sixalix atropurpurea (L.) Greuter & Burdet) (Medit., Turkey) – An exceptional, probably ephemeral alien. In the first half of the 19th century recorded once as a garden escape (Verloove 2006). In 2017 observed in Geetbets and Lint, respectively as escaping from a plantation and as alien in a garden.
This species is increasingly sown in public green these days and may be found in more places. In the British Isles Scabiosa atropurpurea is locally naturalized on chalk cliffs and railway banks (Clement & Foster 1994). In northwestern France, in the Dunkerque port area, a more or less established population of this species has been known since several years (Stien 2018).

Selected literature


Clement E.J. & Foster M.C. (1994) Alien plants of the British Isles. BSBI, London: XVIII + 590 p.

Stien B. (2018) Discussion à propos de quatre découvertes régionales en 2018: Scabiosa atropurpurea, Dittrichia viscosa, Tragopogon pratensis subsp. orientalis et Impatiens capensis. Bull. Soc. Bot. N. Fr. 71: 21-28.

Verloove F. (2006) Catalogue of neophytes in Belgium (1800-2005). Scripta Botanica Belgica 39: 89 p. [available online at: http://alienplantsbelgium.be/sites/alienplantsbelgium.be/files/tabel_2.pdf]

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith