Hudson Bay Eyebright
Euphrasia hudsoniana
With its short hairy stem, tiny pairs of stalkless, lightly hairy leaves, and bushy spike at the top, the Hudson Bay eyebright has an oddly primeval look. Lurking amid the spike and upper leaves are gaping tubular flowers that measure mere millimeters in size and emerge from long burgundy-brushed bracts with pointed tips. An intricate study in color and form, each flower has a deep throat, backward-bent lavender upper petal with purple markings, and flaring lower lip with three white lobes, a yellow dot, and purple veins.
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The eyebrights I stumble across by a pool stand only two to four inches tall, easily hidden amid a tapestry of small alder shrubs, three-toothed cinquefoils, and other vegetation. Not only can the Hudson Bay eyebright be hard to spot. In Minnesota at least, it can also be hard to tell apart from a similar-looking, non-arctic eyebright that has recently spread from its inland range onto the shore.1 I take the plants I see for Hudson Bay eyebrights, but a definitive confirmation might well require genetic testing.
