Succisa pratensisMoench

Devil's-bit Scabious

WFO wfo-0000500443 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Succisa pratensis, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. a Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-07 / obs. 204153214
Succisa pratensis, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. b Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 202713529
Succisa pratensis, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. c Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 202719051
Succisa pratensis, photographed by Anastasia_Surkova
fig. d Anastasia_Surkova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201643991
Succisa pratensis, photographed by Евгений Егорейченков
fig. e Евгений Егорейченков, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201809290
Succisa pratensis, photographed by Евгений Егорейченков
fig. f Евгений Егорейченков, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201808832
Succisa pratensis, photographed by Евгений Егорейченков
fig. g Евгений Егорейченков, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201808347
Succisa pratensis, photographed by Lena Perova
fig. h Lena Perova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195885283

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Native range 43 botanical countries

Regions where Succisa pratensis is native: Algeria, Madeira, Tunisia, Altay, Kazakhstan, Krasnoyarsk, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, West Siberia, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, Føroyar, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine AlgeriaTunisiaAltayKazakhstanKrasnoyarskNorth CaucasusTranscaucasusTürkiyeWest SiberiaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandItalyNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUkraine MadeiraFøroyar
Native distribution of Succisa pratensis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
Føroyar FOR
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Iceland ICE
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Kazakhstan KAZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
North Caucasus NCS
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
West Siberia WSB
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Madeira MDR
Tunisia TUN

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 42 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Asterocephalus succisa (L.) Wallr.
  • Asterocephalus tomentosus Spreng.
  • Lepicephalus succisa (L.) Eichw.
  • Scabiosa borealis Salisb.
  • Scabiosa glabrata Schott
  • Scabiosa succisa L.
  • Scabiosa succisa var. arenaria Rouy
  • Scabiosa succisa var. grandifolia Rouy
  • Scabiosa succisa var. ovalis Rouy
  • Succisa altissima Schur
  • Succisa angustula Jord. & Fourr.
  • Succisa aurigerana Jord. & Fourr.
  • Succisa beugesiaca Jord. & Fourr.
  • Succisa brevis Jord. & Fourr.
  • Succisa cagiriensis Jeanb. & Timb.-Lagr.
  • Succisa cuspidata Jord.
  • Succisa dentata Jord. & Fourr.
  • Succisa elliptica Jeanb. & Timb.-Lagr.
  • Succisa fuchsii Gray
  • Succisa fuscescens Jord. & Fourr.
  • Succisa gigantea Jeanb. & Timb.-Lagr.
  • Succisa glabrata (Schott) Sweet
  • Succisa gracilescens Jord. & Fourr.
  • Succisa incisa Jord. & Fourr.

and 18 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.