Devil's Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) is a wildflower of grassy places, but I see it in two distinctly different habitats. I come across it on chalky hillsides like the South Downs and the Pegsdon Hills where the soil is free draining. Then again I see it in flat marshy environs like Oughtonhead Common where the ground is boggy for much of the year.

 Wildflowers have their niche and it is generally wet or dry but not both. I only find Devil's Bit on chalk that is sloping where the runoff of rainfall may serve to water it. Whereas a marsh like Oughtonhead is less saturated by the time Devil's Bit comes into flower. So perhaps it's soil type is the proverbial "moist but well-drained"?