[3] Species of scabious were used to treat scabies, and other afflictions of the skin including sores caused by the bubonic plague.

[8] Succisa pratensis is a herbaceous perennial up to 1m tall, growing from a basal rosette of simple or distantly-toothed, lanceolate leaves.

[14] It grows in wet or dry grassland and heath on acid or basic soils[10] and is found in hedgerows, marshes, meadows and pastures.

As both invertebrates are rare,[18][19] their survival relies on careful management of sites containing these plant and butterfly species.

[21] The aim is to produce an uneven patchwork of short and long vegetation by the end of the grazing period, between 8 and 25 cm (3.1 and 9.8 in).