Whole-leaved scabious

Knautia integrifolia, Knautia bidens,
Whole-leaved scabious, חוגית תמימה

Scientific name:   Knautia integrifolia (Coulter) Greuter
Synonym name:   Knautia bidens (sm.) Lindley
Common name:   Whole-leaved scabious
Hebrew name:   חוגית תמימה, קנאוטית שתי-שנים
Family:   Dipsacaceae, שלמוניים


Life form:   Annual
Stems:   30-60 cm tall; stem covered with downward directed hairs in its lower part
Leaves:   Opposite, entire, dentate or serrate margin
Inflorescence:   Each flowering stem carries only one or three heads
Flowers:   Blue, violet; Involucre of 8-12 bracts ovate, pointed, ciliate, shorter than the head; head flattened in its upper part; flowers in rays on the margin with very unequal lobed corolla; Involucel of the calyx ending into teeth
Fruits / pods:   Achenes, hairy
Flowering Period:   April, May
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Knautia, after Dr. Christopher Knaut (1638 – 1694), a German (Saxon) botanist.

integrifolia, integri, entire; folius, leaves; with entire leaves.
bidens, bis, twice; dens, a tooth; 2-toothed.
חוגית, hugit, circle.

  • The standard author abbreviation Coulter is used to indicate Thomas Coulter (1793 – 1843), an Irish physician, botanist, and explorer.
  • The standard author abbreviation Greuter is used to indicate Werner Rodolfo Greuter (born 1938), a prominent Swiss national botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Sm. is used to indicate James Edward Smith (1759 – 1828),an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.
  • The standard author abbreviation Lindley is used to indicate John Lindley (1799 – 1865), an English botanist.