A small plant with beautiful small flowers. White flowers that turn purple as they bloom longer. Small flowers with purple veins and a yellow spot in the center. Flowers on reddish stems that go straight up. Explaining part of the name: the name stiff eyebright. Flowers that have been used since the 14th century to cure their medicinal properties against eye ailments. A plant that literally gives comfort to the eyes, but is also simply pleasing to the eye. And then what is the difference in stiff eyebright and real stiff eyebright? Are they different plants or not?
- Eyebright (Euphrasia)
- Rigid Eyebright (Euphrasia stricta)
- The flower of the stiff eyebright
- Half parasite
- Habitat
- The real stiff eyebright versus stiff eyebright
Eyebright (Euphrasia)
Eyebright (Euphrasia) is a genus of herbaceous plants and is classified in the broomrape family (Orobanchaceae) according to the APG II system *. In the older flora the genus is still classified in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae).
* The APG II system is a recent system in plant taxonomy.
Species
Other species that we can observe in the Netherlands are:
- Field oyster toast – Odontites vernus subsp. Vernus
- Gagged Eyebright – Euphrasia officinalis
- Bosogi toast – Euphrasia nemorosa
- True stiff eyebright – Euphrasia stricta ss
- Sticky Eyebright – Parentucellia viscosa
- Late Eyebright – Odontites vernus subsp. serotinus
- Red Eyebright – Odontites vernus
- Slender Eyebright – Euphrasia micrantha
- Rigid Eyebright – Euphrasia stricta sl
- Four-row eyebright – Euphrasia tetraquetra
- Early Eyebright – Odontites vernus subsp. litoralis
Rigid Eyebright (Euphrasia stricta)
Stiff eyebright is an herbaceous and annual semi-parasite. The plant has a strong main root (taproot). Upright, round and hairy stems emerge from the taproot. The stems are erect and explain the name stiff eyebright. They are red colored close to the ground. Stems that often already branch below the middle. Also stems that also crawl over the bottom and root in the nodes so that new plants can grow the following year. The stem leaves are a nice dark green and opposite each other. The leaf margins are strongly serrated with three to six teeth on each side. The entire plant is slightly hairy with short glandular hairs and can grow to 5 to 25 centimeters.
The flower of the stiff eyebright
The white tubular flowers are ambiguous and grow in the axils of the upper leaves. During flowering, the yellowish crown tube is hardly or not at all required. The corolla consists of five white to lilac-like petals with dark purple lines. Towards the end of flowering, the petals turn purple. The small flowers are 4 to 11 millimeters in size. The corolla is double-lipped. The lower lip has three lobes and the shorter upper lip has two lobes. The lower lobes are slightly incised and give a heart shape. It makes the flower friendly and sweet. The lower lobes have a yellow throat spot, which reflects light off the upper lobes, accentuating the friendly and lovely appearance. It’s just a cute little flower to see. Rigid eyebright blooms from May to October. The stamens are shorter than the upper lip and have hairy anthers. Insects pollinate the flower and ensure reproduction. Longer stamens are level with the stigma and bend towards the stigma to allow self-pollination. The capsule is elongated, hairless and is no longer than the calyx. The seeds fall to the ground and are mainly spread by ants.
Half parasite
Such a lovely appearance and yet half a parasite. Stiff eyebright depends on the food (water and salts) of the roots of other plants. Roots of grasses and cyper grasses such as sedge and rush. Semi-parasites themselves have leaf green to add minerals and are therefore not really noticeable as parasites. Parasites also do not have any leaf green and remove all material from the host. In the spring, it is important for the seed of the stiff eyebright that it quickly finds a root from another plant to penetrate and extract food, because the seed itself has hardly any supply.
Habitat
Rigid eyebright is a native plant in central Europe. The plant originates here. In our country, the plant probably once came along with the great rivers. Stiff eyebright prefers to stand on poor, unfertilized soil. Nature areas, river banks, lean grasslands, blue grasslands, dune areas and peatlands. Areas where there are often plenty of sedges and rushes.
The real stiff eyebright versus stiff eyebright
Is it stiff eyebright (Euphrasia stricta sl) or true stiff eyebright (Euphrasia stricta ss)? At Waarneming.nl you can enter stiff eyebright as Euphrasia stricta sl and real stiff eyebright as Euphrasia stricta ss. These terms mean:
- sl (sensu lato) stands for in: broad sense. So a species including possible subspecies.
- ss (sensu stricto) stands for: in the strict sense.
The differences
Sensu stricto is used here to indicate the original plant (Euphrasia stricta ss) and the new mixed variety (Euphrasia stricta sl). The real stiff eyebright is the original kind: ss and the stiff eyebright a new kind: sl Heukels 23 speaks to the real stiff eyebright of Euphrasia strict-stricta. The difference to see is very difficult for a layman. What does the real stiff eyebright look like in the strict sense? What should you look at? What is (when visible) the difference that there is? Please note the following points:
Part attribute | Rigid eyebright | Real stiff eyebright |
---|---|---|
Height flowering plant | 0.05 to 0.25 meters | 0.10 to 0.30 meters |
Leaves |
|
|
Flower | Corolla 4 to 11 millimeters long. | Corolla of 7 to 10 millimeters long. |
Stem | An upright, round, with a red colored stem towards the base. | The stem is more delicate than that of the stiff eyebright and the branches appear in greater number and are more spread out. |
Fruit | The capsule is elongated, hairless and contains striated seeds | The fruit is barely 2 millimeters and covered with rolled warts |