Anagallis arvensis, Scarlet Pimpernel, Shepherd's Barometer,
Poor man's weatherglass, מרגנית השדה
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| | Scientific name: |
| Anagallis arvensis L. |
| Common name: |
| Bird´s-Eye, Scarlet Pimpernel, Shepherd's Barometer, Poor man's weatherglass |
| Hebrew name: |
| Marganit ha-sadeh, עין התכלת, Ein ha-tekhelet, מרגנית השדה |
| Family: |
| Primulaceae, רקפתיים |
Date Picture Taken: March 3, 2007
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| | Life form: |
| Therophyte, annual |
| Leaves: |
| Opposite, entire |
| Flowers: |
| Dark blue |
| Flowering Period: |
| March, April |
| Habitat: |
| Batha, Phrygana |
| Distribution: |
| Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon |
| Chorotype: |
| Euro-Siberian - Med - Irano-Turanian |
| Summer shedding: |
| Ephemeral |
| Protected Flower, צמח מוגן: |
| No, לא |
Date Picture Taken: March 8, 2007
Derivation of the botanical name:
Anagallis,(given by Dioscorides) from the Greek Anagelao, signifying 'to laugh,' from its use in treating depression.
arvensis, arvum, field, cultivated land, plowed land; ensis adjective suffix for nouns: country or place of origin or habitat. MeaningL: "of cultivated fields".
Pimpernel is from the Latin bipinnella, applied in the sixteenth century to plants with bipinnate leaves.
Several of the common names, " Shepherd's Barometer and poor man's weatherglass", relate to weather forecasting, since the flowers open and close with changing weather.
- The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
Once it was regarded as a medicinal herb, with uses dating back to Pliny and Dioscorides.
- Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book XXV, 144: There are two kinds of Anagallis: the male with a scarlet flower, and the female with a blue one; neither is more than a span in height, the stem being tender, and the leaves tiny, round and lying on the ground. the blue-flowered kind blossoms first.The juice of either kind, applied with honey, disperses film on the eyes, suffusions of blood from a blow, and reddish argema...
We Romans call it "cat's-eye".
Pliny speaks of its value in liver complaints, and the Greeks used it for diseases of the eye.
- Gerard John (1545-1612) says, "the Pimpernel with the blue flower helpeth the fundament that is fallen down: and, contrariwise, red Pimpernel being applied bringeth it down."
- Nicholas Culpeper (1616 – 1654) an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer. tells us, 'it helpeth also all stinging and biting of venomous beasts or mad dogs.'
- Mrs Maud Grieve (1858-1941) A Modern Herbal: This plant once had a great reputation in medicine, and was used as a universal panacea. 'No heart can think, no tongue can tell The virtues of the Pimpernel'.
One writer says the flower opens at eight minutes past seven and closes at three minutes past two.
Location: Hevel Lakhish, חבל לכיש, Lakhish Region; Date Picture Taken: February 2,2009
Date Picture Taken: March 22, 2008
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