"Iris Cohen" wrote in message
...
Anagallis arvensis_ [family Primulaceae]. Better known as "scarlet
pimpernel".

It is originally from Europe. Remember the book, and the film with Danny
Kaye?
It's a little cutie, but unfortunately it is an annual and does not take
to
captivity. The normal color is orange, hence the common name. There is
also a
blue form, which is even prettier.

Two blue forms, in fact. One is a separate subspecies (ssp. foemina) which
always seems to be blue, and has morphological differences in the
corolla-lobe; and the other is a blue colour variety of ssp. arvensis.

Also unfortunately, in downtown Syracuse
near the hospitals, it is very widespread, but the two forms interbreed,
producing a muddy lavender.

The lavender or pinkish form is usually written down as a variety of ssp.
arvensis, but I didn't know it was a product of hybridization. In the UK
I've seen this more often than either of the blue plants, which is still
'very rarely'. There's also said to be a white form, which I've never seen.
ssp. foemina is much commoner farther S in Europe.