Nature · Wildflowers & flowers

Eyebright

Native · flowers May–Sep · short grassland, heath and downland

Euphrasia officinalis agg. — Orobanchaceae

A tiny, semi-parasitic annual of short turf whose white flowers are veined with violet and marked with a yellow spot. There are about twenty species and some sixty hybrids in Britain, all so alike that specialists struggle to separate them. Herbalists used it for sore eyes, and it also weakens coarse grass by tapping its roots, as its relative yellow rattle does.

How to spot them

▸Low, often branched annual to about 25 cm, sometimes only a few centimetres on cliffs and downs
▸Tiny white to lilac two-lipped flowers, 5–10 mm, the lower lip with purple veins and a yellow blotch in the throat
▸Small, oval, deeply toothed leaves in opposite pairs, sometimes tinged purple
▸Grows among short grass, on cliffs, heaths, dunes and downs, where it is semi-parasitic on grass roots
▸Not in itself a single species: 'eyebright' covers about 20 hard-to-tell-apart species and around 60 hybrids

How to know it

Minute white flowers veined with purple and with a yellow spot on the lower lip, in short cliff-top turf; a semi-parasite on grasses

Eyebright, Euphrasia.

Traditionally used to treat eye complaints, and the yellow spot and dark veins of its flowers suggested a bloodshot eye

Eyebright — the doctrine of signatures.

In Greek myth a linnet was the first creature to use this plant to clear the sight of its fledglings, before passing the knowledge to humans

Eyebright — as told by the Wildlife Trusts.

In Paradise Lost, the archangel Michael clears Adam's sight with 'euphrasy and rue'

Eyebright — 'euphrasy' is an old name for it.

There are roughly twenty species and sixty hybrids of this small annual, all very similar and difficult to tell apart

Eyebright (Wildlife Trusts).

Like yellow rattle, it is semi-parasitic on grass roots, helping to keep vigorous grasses at bay so delicate flowers can thrive

Eyebright — a hemiparasite.

Quick-fire facts

•Family Orobanchaceae (formerly Scrophulariaceae); the genus name Euphrasia comes from a Greek word meaning gladness or good cheer
•The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust gives a flowering season of May to September and a height of up to 25 cm
•About 20 species and around 60 hybrids occur; chalk eyebright and glandular eyebright are rare and classed as Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework
•Generally semi-parasitic, feeding on the nutrients from the roots of nearby grasses
•Traditional herbalists used it for eye disorders; the name means 'eye bright'
•In Greek myth as told by the Wildlife Trusts, the linnet was the first to use eyebright to clear its fledglings' sight
•Milton's Paradise Lost has Michael purge Adam's sight with euphrasy and rue, and it is an old English name for the plant
•It is a useful plant for wildflower meadows and downland because it suppresses coarse grasses

Drill it — 7 cards

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Sources

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust — Eyebright