Medium to tall hairy plant, stems erect to ascending. Basal leaves elliptical, often broadest above the middle, generally untoothed. The upper leaves often toothed. Flowers lilac to deep purple blue, very occasionally white in rounded heads 15 to 25 mm across.

Field Scabious and Small Scabious

Leaves entire or distantly toothed; flower blue-lilac and all the same size (Field Scabious and Small Scabious have outer flowers longer than inner); corolla 4-lobed.

A photo of whole plant in habitat, showing leaves and flowers (RPR)

Old grassland sometimes in damp places, commons, heaths and marshes.

July to October

Perennial

Fairly frequent and widespread in Britain except for a small area of East Anglia.

Fairly frequent but rather local in Leicestershire and Rutland.  In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi and Evans 1988) it was found in 112 of the 617 tetrads, and in 16 tetrads in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger 1971).