Sheep's-bit

Information on Sheep's-bit

Common Name: Sheep's-bit
Scientific Name: Jasione montana
Irish Name: Duán na gcaorach
Family Group: Campanulaceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Sheep's-bit could sometimes be confused with:

Scabious, Devil's-Bit,

Also known as Sheep's-bit Scabious, the books say this is a rather variable plant and can easily be mistaken for a composite or a scabious, but the florets have a 5-toothed calyx and not a pappus.  Also the anthers in this plant do not project – unlike those of Devil's Bit Scabious.  I hope this helps.  It is a pretty little downy biennial which grows in rocky places, cliffs and heaths up to 40cm high.  It has bright blue rounded flowers aggregated in a compact head (15-25mm) which is borne on a slender stem.  Its leaves have wavy edges and are hairy, grey-green and short-stalked.  The plant is on flower from May to September.  This plant is a native and belongs to the family Campanulaceae.   

I first identified this flower in Laragh, Co Wicklow in 1976 and photographed it in Glenmalure, Co Wicklow in 2006.

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

Sheep's-bit
Sheep's-bit
Sheep's-bit
Sheep's-bit