what is a pimpernel

Pimpernel is a small wild plant that usually has red flowers. It belongs to the genus Anagallis, which is a group of about 20-25 species of flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. The botanical name "Anagallis" is from the Greek ana (ἀνα- again) and agállein (ἀγάλλειν to delight in), and it refers to the opening and closing of the flowers in response to environmental conditions. The scarlet pimpernel is a species of Anagallis and is also called poor-mans weatherglass. It is an annual plant native to Europe but is naturalized elsewhere, including North America. Scarlet pimpernel is a low-growing, branching, winter or summer annual, and occasionally, biennial broadleaf plant. The flowers of pimpernel plants are usually solitary in the leaf axils, but sometimes are on short spikes at the end of the stem, and they remain open only under direct sunlight.