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Melampyrum nemorosum
Also called Wood Cow Wheat
Wood cow-wheat is a hemiparasitic annual wildflower native to temperate Europe and western Siberia that draws some nutrients from the roots of neighbouring plants. It grows best in cool, shaded woodland edges and clearings rather than in open garden beds.
Wood cow-wheat (Melampyrum nemorosum) is an herbaceous flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae. It is native to Europe. In Sweden it is called natt och dag (Night and Day). In Russia it is called Ivan-da-Marya (Ivan and Maria), a Christianisation of the traditional Slavic Kupalo-da-Mavka (Kupalo-and-Mavka).
This is an annual plant. The new leaves are blue, turning green as they mature. They are usually toothed at the bases.
Field cow-wheat · Crested Cow-wheat · Narrowleaf cowwheat · Common cow-wheat · Small Cow Wheat · Cow Wheat
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Melampyrum nemorosum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
