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perennial

Small scabious

Scabiosa columbaria

Native

Growing guidance

Horticultural figures below are practitioner estimates for planning, pending expert review. The botanical record further down is sourced and verifiable.

Current-climate suitability

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Future-climate resilience

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Sun

Full sun

Soil moisture

free-draining, average

Heat tolerance

Up to about 42°C

Cold tolerance

Down to about -28°C

Waterlogging tolerance

1/5

Drought tolerance

4/5

Mature size

0.3–0.6 m tall, 0.4 m spread

Seasonal interest

Summer to autumn · Lilac blue

Maintenance

low

Wildlife supported

General wildlife value 5/5 (verified species relationships are shown only where structured data exists)

Known risks or warnings

Needs free drainage and sun.

Toxicity: none

Verified botanical record

Accepted scientific name
Scabiosa columbaria L.
Family
Caprifoliaceae (Dipsacales)
Rank and status
species · accepted
GBIF record
Taxon 2888802

Recorded native range: Belgium, Flanders, Flemish Region, Walloon Region, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West

Recorded as introduced in: Latvia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio

Ranges are exactly as recorded in the GBIF source checklists and may be incomplete for widely cultivated species.

Scabiosa columbaria, called the small scabious or dwarf pincushion flower, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the genus Scabiosa, native to Europe, Africa, and western Asia, from Sweden to Angola. In the garden it is a short-lived deciduous perennial. In the wild in Europe it prefers to grow in calcareous grasslands. Growing to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall by 0.5 m (1.6 ft), it has simple branched grey-green leaves, and pale lavender or blue multi-petalled flowers from summer to autumn.

Description from Wikipedia — Scabiosa columbaria (CC BY-SA), shortened and unedited in substance.

Native status and geographic context

  • United Kingdom: native
  • United States: climate-suitable
  • Australia: climate-suitable

Native status is never inferred from climate similarity. Plants restricted or invasive in a jurisdiction are excluded from recommendations there.

Demonstration data. Climate, plant and retailer records shown here are realistic samples awaiting horticultural validation and live data connections.