Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Boraginales? order assignment uncertain
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Mertensia virginica
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Virginia Bluebells at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Mertensia virginica
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 161-10-001:
Mertensia virginica
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
COMMON NAME:
Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_mevi3_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_mevi3_009_lvd
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk931_a
March
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_mertensia_virginica_6
March
Calyx 5-parted, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Ed Pivorun ebp090404_4846
April Walker County GA
The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain
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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.
)
JK Marlow jkm080421_048
April Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Style filiform, long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
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.
)
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.
)
Tim Spira tpsmvirginica
April
The flowers are pink at first, then blue, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
)
Tim Spira tpsmvirginica2
April
)
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.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Mertensia virginica
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Mertensia virginica
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 161-10-001:
Mertensia virginica
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
931
Forb
Perennial
Native to North Carolina & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC -
Rare south of VA
Look for it in nutrient-rich, moist, alluvial soils of floodplain forests & thickets, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
...Moist
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal & alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
Blue
Bisexual
5-parted calyx
5-lobed funnelform or trumpet-shaped corolla
5 stamens, fused to corolla tube
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Schizocarp of specialized mericarps (nutlets)
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee p148
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p196
- Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p124
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p422
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p077
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p213
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p213
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p136