Copy permalink to share

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.

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

Show in key(s)

Show parent genus

Wetland Indicator Status:

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

Heliophily : 3

Your browser does not support SVGs

Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend.

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© 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 | Original Image ⭷
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

Feedback

See something wrong or missing on about Mertensia virginica? Let us know here: (Please include your name and email if at all complicated so we can clarify if needed.) We greatly appreciate feedback, and will include updates from you in our next webapp update, which can take a few months.


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