Virginia Cowslip

(Mertensia virginica)

 

Color Photograph: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

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

 

Virginia Cowslip (Mertensia virginica)

Identification: Flowers with 5 fused petals, pink when young, turning blue with age. Apex of corolla strongly expanded and flared as in a trumpet bell. Flowers arranged in nodding clusters. Stem smooth and fleshy. Leaves large, oval, smooth, with strong veins. Plant 1 to 2 feet in height.

Distribution: Minnesota in the west to southern New England in the east, southward to Georgia and Mississippi.

Habitat: Virginia Cowslip is most common in bottomlands and woods along rivers.

Flowering period: March to May.

Virginia Cowslip (Mertensia virginica)

Similar Species:

The nodding clusters of pink and blue flowers with their flaring, bell-shaped apices are distinctive.

Similar Species

No Similar Species