How to Spot

Water Mint can grow up to 90cm tall. It has pretty, pale purple flower heads and hairy leaves and stems. The leaves can be between 2cm and 6cm and grow in whorls around the stem.

Peppermint shares a resemblance, but has darker flowers, leaves and often has a purple stem.

Where to Spot

This pretty, aromatic plant is common all over the UK. You can find it growing in wet meadows, fens and marshes, streams, ponds, riversides and damp woodlands.

Things you might not know

It is said that Water Mints pleasant scent was used during the medieval era, to make their dining halls smell fresh.

Reportedly the plants were laid on the floor so that guests would step on them upon entering, and release the sweet smell of mint.

How to spot

Devil’s-bit Scabious is part of the Globulariaceae family which includes similar looking relatives such as Small Scabious Scabiosa columbaria and Field Scabious Knautia arvensis.

They all have similar looking rounded composite flower heads, made up of many tiny flowers. They are usually blue in colour, though can sometimes be purple. You can tell Devil’s-bit from it’s relatives as it has long oval leaves.

Devil’s-bit Scabious is a perennial plant that grows up to 100cm.

Where to spot

This plant prefers damp environments and can be found in marshes, wet heathlands, fens and woodlands.

It is a common plant that is found all over the UK.

Things you might not know

1. Devil’s-bit Scabious is a favourite among pollinators. It is rich in both pollen and nectar which attracts a variety of insects from bees to butterflies and moths to hoverflies.
2. The first part of the name ‘Devil’s-bit’ comes from a folklore tale that suggests the devil once bit the root of the plant which caused it’s distinctive flat edge.
3. The second part of the name, ‘Scabious’, comes from the Latin word ‘scabere’, which means ‘scratch’. Indeed the plant has been used in the past to treat itchy skin conditions from scabies to eczema and even the sores brought on by the bubonic plague.