Mertensia longiflora
Appearance
Mertensia longiflora | |
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Mertensia longiflora near Cashmere, Chelan County Washington | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Boraginales |
Family: | Boraginaceae |
Genus: | Mertensia |
Species: | M. longiflora
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Binomial name | |
Mertensia longiflora Greene, 1898
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Mertensia longiflora is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common names small bluebells and long bluebells.
Distribution
[edit]It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Montana, where it grows in several types of habitat.
Description
[edit]It is a perennial herb growing from branched and tuberous roots[1] in the form of a caudex. The erect stem averages about 18 centimetres (7+1⁄8 in) in height.[1] There are a few oval to lance-shaped leaves.
The inflorescence is a dense, often crowded cluster of hanging tubular flowers which are fused at the base and expand into lobed and bell-like mouths.[1] They are generally bright blue, but may be lavender to pinkish to nearly white, and measure up to 2.5 cm long.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 22. ISBN 0-87842-280-3. OCLC 25708726.
External links
[edit]- Media related to Mertensia longiflora at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Mertensia longiflora at Wikispecies
- "Mertensia longiflora". Plants for a Future.
- Jepson Manual Treatment
- Mertensia longiflora in the CalPhotos photo database, University of California, Berkeley