Sea Mertensia

(Mertensia maritima)

 

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of Danielle Langlois

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Sea Mertensia (Mertensia maritima)

Identification: Plant prostrate, forming mats. Flowers with 5 petals, initially pink, turning blue with age. Base of corolla slightly swollen, sitting in a cup-shaped calyx. Stem and leaves fleshy, said to smell of oysters when crushed. Leaves rounded, sessile to the stem, with a smooth outer margin.

Distribution: Found along the northern Atlantic coast from Arctica Canada southward to Massachusetts. Also found in northern Europe.

Habitat: Sea Mertensia lives along marine rocky shores and beaches.

Flowering period: June to September.

Sea Mertensia (Mertensia maritima)

Similar Species:

The pink to blue flowers and shoreline habitat, combined with the fleshy prostrate stems and leaves readily identify this species.

Similar Species

No Similar Species