OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Boraginales? order assignment uncertain

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Mertensia virginica   FAMILY Boraginaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Mertensia virginica   FAMILY Boraginaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Mertensia virginica

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 161-10-001:

Mertensia virginica   FAMILY Boraginaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Mertensia virginica

 

COMMON NAME:
Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_mevi3_001_lvd

        

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_mevi3_009_lvd

        

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

Ben Geer Keys    bgk931_a

March        

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_mertensia_virginica_6

March        

Calyx 5-parted, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

Ed Pivorun    ebp090404_4846

April    Walker County    GA

The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

JK Marlow    jkm0404e_07

April    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

Leaves pale green, elliptic to obovate or oblanceolate, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

JK Marlow    jkm080421_048

April    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

Style filiform, long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_mertensia_virginica

April        

Terminal clusters of pink buds unfold into porcelain-blue long-necked bells, per Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002).

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

Steve Marlow    snm090405_006

April    Walker County    GA

The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain

Flowers ~ 1" long, tubular, abruptly enlarged into a cup w 5 shallow lobes, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

Tim Spira    tpsmvirginica

April        

The flowers are pink at first, then blue, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

Tim Spira    tpsmvirginica2

April        

image of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip

JK Marlow    jkm160502_085

May    Macon County    NC

Highlands Biological Station

Basal lvs long-petiolate, upper& middle cauline lvs short-petiolate to sessile, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Mertensia virginica   FAMILY Boraginaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Mertensia virginica   FAMILY Boraginaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Mertensia virginica

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 161-10-001:
Mertensia virginica   FAMILY Boraginaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mertensia virginica

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

931

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: Nutrient-rich, moist, alluvial soils of floodplain forests and thickets, also on rich slopes or bluffs over calcareous rocks, per Weakley's Flora

Native to North Carolina & Georgia

Rare

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Simple
Basal & alternate

FLOWER:
Spring
Blue
5-parted calyx
5-lobed funnelform or trumpet-shaped corolla
5 stamens, fused to corolla tube
Superior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Schizocarp of specialized mericarps (nutlets)

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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