Samolus valerandi (BIS-Fogo)

Samolus valerandi

Summary ⁴

Samolus valerandi is a species of water pimpernel native to a very wide area across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Common names include Brookweed, Thin-Leaf Brookweed, Water Cabbage, and Water Rose.

Taxon biology ⁵

If you only see brookweed rosettes during its first year, you may mistake it for a daisy plant. However, brookweed grows in places where you aren't likely to find daisies growing, namely in damp places which flood in the winter and maybe even slightly brackish. Brookweed has a love-hate relationship with salt. It actually profits from small amounts, but once the salt concentration is too high, brookweed stops growing. Its seeds will only germinate after a winter freeze and a warm late spring. Most of its habitats are found in border areas between fresh and salt water regions. Brookweed is mostly found along the coast: in the delta region, on the Wadden Islands and along the North-Holland and Frisian coasts. Otherwise, it is extremely rare in the Netherlands.