Anagallis tenella Bog Pimpernel

Anagallis (Lysimachia) tenella, Bog Pimpernel, is an attractive mat-forming perennial of wet banks, ditches, fens, dune slacks and marshy grasslands. Although generally a local species in Britain, it is widely distributed in West Glamorgan. It produces tightly clustered pink flowers which open widely in sunshine and can form spectacular displays along the roadside drainage ditches in the open areas of plantations where it often grows with species like Ivy-leaved Bellflower (Wahlenbergia hederacea) and Lesser Skullcap (Scutellaria minor). Its prostrate stems, with small round leaves in opposite pairs, creep along the ground rooting at the nodes attaching the plants firmly to the substrate. It is able to colonise bare, wet banks very quickly. It is unmistakable in flower, but when not in flower it resembles New Zealand Willowherb (Epilobium brunnescens) which has minute hairs arranged in two opposite, broad lines along the stem. The leaves of Bog Pimpernel also have a sweet, disinfectant-lke scent, but it can be faint.

Native