My own, completely arbitrary, guide to telling apart flowers of chalk downland. I'm going by colour first. Basically, chalk downland flowers are all going to be either purple or yellow and then there's a third category of flowers that are neither purple nor yellow. We may get round to yellow and neither purple nor yellow in good time. Maybe.
Just a quick reminder before we go on: chalk downland is generally poor, not very fertile soil and so for that reason suits the flowers listed below. (See http://punkrockecology.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/over-hills-and-far-away.html for a short description of chalk downland, or click on' chalk downland' in the labels box to the right).
Anyway, here we go:
Knapweed
Greater Knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa) This is similar to a thistle. I was going to say it was a member of the thistle family but to be properly botanical, it's a member of the daisy family (Asteraceae), which is a pretty substantial family in itself. Knapweed, is part of the genus Centaurea or knapweeds and star thistles, which are thistle-like in appearance but lack actual thistles. Check out the unopened flowerhead to the left, which is very thistle-like in appearance.
A quick dichotomous identity test goes as follows: does it look like a thistle? If yes, grab it with your bare hand. Does it hurt? If no, then it is part of the genus Centaurea.
Finally, if it's big and purple then it's greater knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa). If it's smaller and purple then it's common knapweed (Centaurea nigra).
Devil's Bit Scabious
Devil's Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis). Similar to knapweed in colour and globular shape but smaller and of a lighter purple, and blending delicately to a white centre. Also note the very prominent stamen's standing proud of the florets. (Translation: the tiny stalks sticking out of the flowers). The whole flower is made up of dozens of tiny little individual florets (pay attention to them, that'll be important with identifying the next flower).
It is part of the much smaller teasel family (Dipsacaceae), despite looking nothing like a teasel. The stem is long and spindly and slightly fuzzy.
According to the latest newsletter of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, the name 'devil's bit' comes from a tale that the devil was jealous of such a pretty flower so bit off it's root out of spite. Or something. Now, that sounds like a load of old cobblers to me: some story an old farm hand made up and told to a victorian flower collector over a few pints of cider. But that's none of my business.
Field Scabious
Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis). Very similar, in fact broadly identical, to devil's bit scabious. The species name is completely different but I've no idea why. It is similar in being a similar paste shade of purple and with the same prominent stamens but, instead of a hemispherical shape, it's flatter and has 'corners', like a four or five pointed star. These are all made up of little florets, like the devil's bit, but these flatten out towards the edges - tight, round and closely packed in the centre but larger and flatter towards the edge.
But don't take my word for it. Here's the always reliable Wikipedia, with a full run down of species classification and everything:
Greater knapweed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurea_scabiosa
Devil's Bit Scabious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succisa_pratensis
and http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/species/devils-bit-scabious
Field scabious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knautia_arvensis and http://www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/plant_species/field_scabious
What a stamen is, in case you were wondering. Though I'm thinking that you really should have had birds and bees explained to you by now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamen https://www.amnh.org/learn/biodiversity_counts/ident_help/Parts_Plants/parts_of_flower.htm
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