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Boraginaceae
Mertensia

Mertensia virginica (Linnaeus) Persoon ex Link. Common name: Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip. Phenology: Mar-May. Habitat: Nutrient-rich, moist, alluvial soils of floodplain forests and thickets, also on rich slopes or bluffs over calcareous rocks. Distribution: NY west to WI, and IA, south to n. NC, nw. GA, AL, and n. AR.

Glossary (beta!)

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Taxonomy Comments: Pringle (2004) discussed the nomenclatural reasons for retaining the name M. virginica.

Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, C, F, G, GrPl, Il, K4, Mi, NE, NY, Pa, RAB, S, Tat, Tn, Va, W, WV, Al-Shehbaz (1991); = Mertensia pulmonarioides Roth. Basionym: Pulmonaria virginica L. 1753

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Wetland Indicator Status:

  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FAC
  • Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
  • Midwest: FACW
  • Northcentral & Northeast: FAC

Heliophily ⓘ: 3

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image of plant© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Alan Cressler: Mertensia virginica, Chattahoochee National Forest, Chattooga County, Georgia 2 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Grant Morrow Parkins | Original Image ⭷
image of plantno rights reserved, uploaded by Mike D. source CC0 | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Matt Felperin, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Matt Felperin source CC-BY | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Bruce Sorrie
image of plant© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Alan Cressler: Mertensia virginica, Chattahoochee National Forest, Chattooga County, Georgia 1 by Alan Cressler source
image of plant© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Alan Cressler: Mertensia virginica, Calloway Sinks, Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve, The Nature Conservancy, Jackson County, Alabama 3 by Alan Cressler source
image of plant© Alan M. Cressler
image of plant© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG
image of plant© Alan Cressler: Mertensia virginica, Calloway Sinks, Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve, The Nature Conservancy, Jackson County, Alabama 6 by Alan Cressler source
image of plant© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Alan Cressler: Mertensia virginica, Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve, The Nature Conservancy, Jackson County, Alabama 2 by Alan Cressler source

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Horticultural Information

NCBG trait

Intro: Erect to ascending perennial found in nutrient-rich, moist, alluvial soils of floodplain forests and thickets.

Stems: Stems branched above, smooth.

Leaves: Leaves alternate, short-petiolate to sessile, oval-elliptic to spoon-shaped, to 2½ in. long (basal ones biggest), gray-green.

Inforescence:

Flowers: Flowers nodding in bractless, coiled racemes terminating the stem and branches; pink in bud, turning blue (occasionally white); funnel-shaped with a distinctly long tube that is densely furry at the base and opens to a shallowly undulate bell with 5 small folds. Anthers and style are prominently visible in the corolla throat.

Fruits: Fruit a small nutlet with wrinkled surface.

Comments: Sometimes colonial and seen in large masses.

Height: 12-28 in.

plant sale text: Virginia bluebells are beautiful woodland ephemerals that produce a stunning show of pink buds and pendulous, blue bell-shaped flowers in the spring. Flowering lasts for approximately three weeks. By mid-summer these plants go dormant until the following year. Virginia bluebells grow best in deep to partial shade and moist well-drained humus and will spread and self-seed under ideal conditions.

bloom table text:

description: Erect to ascending perennial found in nutrient-rich, moist, alluvial soils of floodplain forests and thickets.

stems: Stems branched above, smooth.

leaves: Leaves alternate, short-petiolate to sessile, oval-elliptic to spoon-shaped, to 2½ in. long (basal ones biggest), gray-green.

inflorescence:

flowers: Flowers nodding in bractless, coiled racemes terminating the stem and branches; pink in bud, turning blue (occasionally white); funnel-shaped with a distinctly long tube that is densely furry at the base and opens to a shallowly undulate bell with 5 small folds. Anthers and style are prominently visible in the corolla throat.

fruits: Fruit a small nutlet with wrinkled surface.

comments: Sometimes colonial and seen in large masses.

cultural notes:

germination code:

native range: eastern United States



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