Category: Myrsinaceae

  • Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis)

    Also classified in the genus Lysimachia. These are unmistakable flowers, little bursts of scarlet popping out of sidewalk cracks and dry banks. They open only in fine weather and close, apparently in response to a drop in barometric pressure, if a storm is coming: thus another common name, “Poor Man’s Weatherglass.” These pictures were taken June 10 along the Mon on the South Side—in fine weather, as the flowers are happy to tell you.

    Baroness Orczy’s crusading fop took his name from these flowers.

    For a fuller description, see the Anagallis arvensis reference page.

  • Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis)

    Anagallis-arvensis-01

    This is a marvelous plant. It blooms all summer in the poorest soil, even in the cracks of sidewalks; it closes when bad weather is coming, apparently in response to the change in atmospheric pressure; and it rescues French aristocrats from the guillotine.