Swamp Pink

(Helonias bullata)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: NRCS, Plants Database, U.S. Department of Agriculture

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

 

Swamp Pink (Helonias bullata L.)

Identification: Flowers pink with blue stamens clustered in an egg-shaped or slightly more elongate ball at the apex of the flowering stem. Flowering stem tall, hollow. Leaves evergreen, elongate, spatulate, forming a basal rosette. Plant 1 to 3 feet in height.

Distribution: Along the Atlantic Coast from Long Island in the north to Georgia in the south.

Habitat: Swamp Pink is found in swamps and bogs, primarily along the Coastal Plain.

Flowering period: April to May.

Similar Species: The pink flowers in an ovate cluster at the apex of the long hollow flowering stalk are distinctive for Swamp Pink.

Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc. 2003. All rights reserved.