Scarlet Pimpernel | Plant Information

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Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Ericales

Family:

Primulaceae (Primrose)

Also in this family:

Bird's-eye Primrose, Bog Pimpernel, Brookweed, Chaffweed, Chickweed Wintergreen, Common Primrose, Cowslip, Creeping Jenny, Dotted Loosestrife, Eastern Sowbread, False Oxlip, Fringed Loosestrife, Japanese Cowslip, Oxlip, Scots Primrose, Sea Milkwort, Sowbread, Spring Sowbread, Tibetan Cowslip, Water Violet, Yellow Loosestrife, Yellow Pimpernel

Type:

Flower

Life Cycle:

Annual

Maximum Size:

40 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Beaches, cliffs, farmland, gardens, grassland, lawns, meadows, parkland, roadsides, sand dunes, sea cliffs, wasteland.

Flower:

Red, 5 petals

5 petals fringed with hairs. Despite the name, the flowers are orange and not scarlet red.

Fruit:

A brown, round fruit capsule which contains many seeds. Ripens from August to October. Up to 6mm across.

Leaves:

The leaves are stalkless and grow in opposite pairs along the stems. They are oval-elliptical with pointed tips. The leaf margins are not toothed. The undersides of the leaves are black-dotted and have many dense white hairs.

Other Names:

Adder's Eyes, Bird's Tongue, Bird's-eye, Blue Pimpernel, Burnet Rose, Clockflower, Common Pimpernel, Cure-all, Eyebright, John-go-to-bed-at-noon, Laughter Bringer, Little Joan, Male Pimpernel, Merecrop, Orange Lily Pernel, Poor Man's Barometer, Poor Man's Weather Glass, Red Chickweed, Red Pimpernel, Shepherd's Calendar, Shepherd's Clock, Shepherd's Delight, Shepherd's Glass, Shepherd's Sundial, Shepherd's Warning, Shepherd's Watch, Shepherd's Weather Glass, Sunflower, Tom Pimpernowl, Waywort, Weather-glass, Winco-pipe, Wink-a-peep.

Frequency (UK):

Common