Blooddrops

This winter annual germinates towards the end of autumn and flowers in June and July (2). Very few seeds are produced by each plant, and their large size and heaviness restricts the colonisation of new areas. It is likely that the seeds are able to lie dormant for many years in the soil until conditions become suitable again, as the plant has re-appeared after clearings are created in woodlands (2).

Unfortunately, very little direct conservation action has so far been targeted at this beautiful wild flower. It may benefit from various agri-environment schemes, which encourage farmers to use more environmentally-friendly, sensitive methods (9).

The beautiful pheasant's eye has feathery leaves and produces attractive scarlet coloured flowers, similar in appearance to anemones (3). The arrangement of the seeds resembles a loganberry (4). The Latin name Adonis is said to remember the young Adonis who was killed by a wild boar; this flower supposedly sprang up from the ground where his blood fell (5). Pheasants have red eyes, and the common name refers to this fact (5). Local names include 'Jack in the green', 'love lies bleeding' and 'rose-a-ruby' (5).

Occurs in cultivated land, most often in cornfields, and has more recently become associated with field margins and corners, which provide refuges from intense herbicide and fertiliser applications (2), particularly on thin chalky and limestone soils (8).

This species is thought to be an ancient introduction to Great Britain, and was once such a common feature in southern England that it was sold on Covent Garden Market as 'red Morocco' in the eighteenth century (3), but since 1987 it has been recorded at just 18 sites, and is now restricted to southern and south-east England. Previously it reached as far north as Leicestershire and Lincolnshire (2). The European range centres on the Mediterranean region and reaches Iran and North Africa (2).

Vulnerable in Great Britain (2).

The slow decline that began after 1880 has been attributed to improved methods of seed cleaning, which removed the seeds of pheasant's eye from the cereal crop. Climatic changes may also have been responsible. The more recent severe decline was caused by agricultural intensification such as the use of herbicides and nitrogenous fertilisers. Furthermore, sowing cereal crops in autumn may hinder the germination of this species (2).

Adonis annua also has been reported for the lower Mississippi Valley (W.C. Muenscher 1980), Ontario and Manitoba (H. J. Scoggan 1978-1979, part 3), some of the western states, and New England. I have not found more recent records to confirm abundance of the species in those regions. Muenscher's report was presumably based on J. K. Small (1933), who cited the species as abundant along newly built levees of the Mississippi River. Although the species may escape frequently in some areas, the populations are often tenuously established and tend not to persist. Records of A . annua from western states were based on misidentified A . aestivalis .

Herbarium specimens without mature achenes may be impossible to distinguish from the closely related Adonis aestivalis , which differs in achene morphology and, reportedly, a slight difference in orientation of sepals and petals.

Several infraspecific taxonomies have been proposed for Adonis annua ; none are well supported by observations in the field (C. C. Heyn and B. Pazy 1989).

Petal color has been variously reported; in the flora only dark red with a dark basal blotch is confirmed by herbarium specimens.

Herbs , annual, taprooted. Stem 1, 10-40 cm. Leaves: basal leaves 2-5 cm, similar to cauline, petiolate; cauline leaves sessile or subsessile. Leaf blade 2-3-pinnatifid. Flowers 1.5-2.5 cm diam.; sepals appressed to petals, broadly obovate, ± erose in distal 1/3, minutely ciliate, otherwise glabrous; petals 6-10, spreading, dark red [orange to red-purple], usually with dark basal blotch, ±plane, 8-15 mm, ca. 1.5 times length of calyx, apex slightly erose; stamens 15-20; anthers purple-black (olive green with age); pistils 20-30. Heads of achenes short-cylindric, 13-20 × 6-10 mm; pedicels conspicuously exserted well beyond leaves. Achenes 3-5 mm, glabrous, adaxial margin nearly straight, abaxial keel gibbous, not toothed; beak straight, erect, 0.5-1 mm.

introduced; Ala., Ark., La., Mo., Tenn., Tex.; native to Eurasia.

Flowering spring-summer (Apr-Jun).

Prairies, fields, river banks, and waste places; 100-200m.

Adonis autumnalis Linnaeus

Adonis annua (syn. Adonis autumnalis L., Adonis phoenicea Bercht. & J.Presl.), also known as pheasant's-eye, Adonis' flower, autumn Adonis, autumn pheasant's-eye, blooddrops, red chamomile, red Morocco, rose-a-ruby, soldiers-in-green, is an ornamental plant of the family Ranunculaceae.

It is native to North Africa, Western Asia, the Mediterranean, and Europe. The name Bird's Eye is also associated with the bird's-eye primrose. Pheasant's eye is also an alternative name for poet's narcissus.

Adonis annua grows to a height of 10 in (25 cm). The flowers are often scarlet in color with darker spots at the base.

In the UK, Adonis annua is endangered and listed as a priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

The leaves and roots are poisonous to humans and livestock.