Hairy Eyebright

(Euphrasia nemorsa)

Hairy Eyebright (Euphrasia nemorsa [Pers.] Wallr.)

Identification: Flowers white with a tubular corolla and 5 petal lobes. Upper 2 petal lobes fused into a hoodlike structure. Lower 3 petal lobes, separate, lined with red, elongate, and with each of their apices deeply notched. Flower stalks short and flowers arising from the leaf axils. Stem and leaves hairy. Leaves round, deeply toothed, in opposite pairs, and sessile to the stem. Plant 4 to 10 inches in height.

Distribution: British Columbia to Newfoundland south to upper New England, Michigan, and Minnesota. Also occurs in the Pacific Northwest.

Habitat: Hairy Eyebright is found in fields and along roadsides.

Flowering period: June to September.

Similar Species: The white flowers with striped petal lobes and the deeply notched lower 3 petal lobes are distinctive as are the round, heavily toothed leaves.