Euphrasia arctica x nemorosa   Eyebright C DD N

Euphrasia arctica x nemorosa

In a meadow at the foot of Cronkley fell there were thousands of quite prominent Euphrasia species. They were mostly about 10 to 20 cm tall and reminded me of E. nemorosa in habit. Fortunately they had been identified for us by our WFS leader Vincent Jones as a hybrid swarm of Euphrasia nemorosa x arctica. Even a careful use of the key in Stace could hardly have led to this determination without expert help. Pure species of the Euphrasia genus are hard enough to determine let alone hybrids.

This hybrid has been identified in scattered sites throughout the British Isles but more in Scotland than elsewhere.

Meadow at foot of Cronkley Fell, Teesdale, 22nd June 2005

Added on October 29th 2005, updated 13th January 2009, updated 30th March 2010

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