Sharp-leaved Fluellen, Kickxia elatine

In 2014 James Emerson told me about a Sharp-leaved Fluellen (Kickxia elatine) plant growing on the edge of a field by a footpath in South Norfolk, so I cycled out on a baking hot July day and found it – eventually. It was a tiny plant with an even tinier flower and I had walked past it twice, mistaking it for a tiny specimen of Lesser Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis). Last week I saw several Sharp-leaved Fluellen plants in Norwich, thriving on a pile of dumped clay soil, and it was immediately obvious what they were (and weren’t).

Like the Weasel’s-Snout (Misopates orontium) that grows on my allotment, Sharp-leaved Fluellen (Kickxia elatine) is an annual archeophyte in the family Plantaginaceae (the Plantain family) (note 1).

Sharp-leaved Fluellen usually grows on the margins and headlands of arable fields and on tracks, waste ground and in gardens. (It needs soil disturbance to grow, as do many other arable “weeds”, such as Common Poppy, Corn Marigolds, Corncockle and Cornflowers.)

Sharp-leaved Fluellen is usually found on basic (alkaline) soils, such as light soils over chalk and calcareous boulder-clay (as in that South Norfolk field) but will also grow in sandy or peaty soils on occasion. In the British Isles, the plant is mainly confined to southern England, Welsh coasts and south-east Ireland. It also occurs in many parts of continental Europe and parts of Asia, including Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Turkey. It has been introduced to Australia, the United States and Canada.

Kickxia elatine has a low-growing, spreading growth habit. As mentioned above, my initial impression was of a tiny, prostrate Lesser Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) because the leaves were rather similar in shape, arrow-shaped and sharply-pointed. But closer examination reveals distinct differences between the plants: Sharp-leaved Fluellen is covered in sticky hairs; Lesser Bindweed leaves have less obvious, felty hairs. When the plants are in flower there is absolutely no possibility of confusion, as Lesser Bindweed flowers are trumpet shaped and various shades of pink or white, whereas Sharp-leaved Fluellen flowers are like a tiny Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus), yellowish to bluish with a violet-purple upper lip, borne singly on long stalks from the base of the leaves. There are some great photographs of Kickxia elatine on the Wild Flower Finder, UK Wildflowers and Nature Spot websites.

The genus Kickxia is named after Jean Kickx (1775–1831), a Belgian botanist and mineralogist. (Now that proper nouns are allowed in Scrabble, the word could be a useful way of using up a ‘K’ and an ‘X’ in the same turn.)

As well as Sharp-leaved Fluellen, Kickxia elatine is sometimes known as Sharpleaf Cancerwort. This implies that the plant may have been used to treat cancer, but I have been unable to find more information on this (note 2). The Plants For A Future website mentions that the plant can be used externally to staunch wounds and bleeding (haemostatis) but gives no other properties. The phytochemistry of some related species has been investigated, including Kickxia ramosissima (note 3) and Kickxia spuria (note 4), and revealed antimicrobial compounds.

Kickxia spuria is Round-leaved Fluellen, another annual of disturbed soil that grows in similar habitats to Sharp-leaved Fluellen. Unlike Kickxia elatine it has noticeably rounded hairy leaves and its pedicels (flower stalks) and corolla (flower petals) are hairless. It is a plant I have yet to see.

Notes

Note 1 – When I studied Botany, Weasel’s-Snout, Antirrhinum and Sharp-leaved Fluellen were considered to be part of the Scrophulariaceae (Figwort family), but nowadays they are in the same family as Ribwort (Plantago lanceolata) and other plantains.

Note 2 – If you have more information on this, please let me know.

Note 3 – See Amin, Cos, Maes, Apers, Exarchou and Pieters (2015) and Amin, Tuenter, Foubert, Iqbal, Cos, Maes, Exarchou, Apers and Pieters (2017). Kickxia ramosissima (now reclassified as Nanorrhinum ramosissimum) is used as a medicinal plant in Pakistan to treat diabetic and inflammatory conditions. The authors isolated compounds with antimicrobial properties from the plant.

Note 4 – See Morteza-Semnani , Saeedi and Akbarzadeh (2008).