Field Pimpernel L.
An annual or biennial plant very common throughout the northern hemisphere. Its beautiful little flowers, which are blue, orange, or red, open only when the sun is high in the sky, and close when it is cloudy or when the sun sets in the west. This is why it is also known as the poor man's barometer or shepherd's hourglass, among other names.
The Latin name comes from the ancient Greek ana + agallomai = I feel great joy. The ancient Greeks believed that the plant could cure melancholy and depression caused by liver disorders. The adjective arvensis comes from the Latin arvus = field. Dioscorides considers the blue flowers to be “masculine” and the red ones “feminine,” and attributes several healing properties to them. In Navarre, Spain, it has long been used as a wound healing agent. Recent research at the local university shows that extracts from the plant's leaves have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.(V. Lopez, University of Navarre). The plant is toxic and quite dangerous, especially for small animals and birds, which can suffer from various intestinal disorders if they eat large quantities.
Other names for it in Greece: perdikouli koghistra, fellochorto, t’ ouranou ta louloudia.
