{ "id": "epx6aw7jvv", "slug": "mertensia-virginica", "title": "Mertensia virginica", "updated": "2026-10-21", "topic_path": [ { "id": "life", "label": "Life and health", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life" }, { "id": "life.plants", "label": "Plants and algae", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed", "label": "Seed plants", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed.other", "label": "Other flowering plants", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed.other" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed.other.asterids", "label": "Asterids", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed.other.asterids" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed.other.asterids.lamiid-families", "label": "Lamiid families", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed.other.asterids.lamiid-families" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed.other.asterids.lamiid-families.olive-coffee-and-borage-families", "label": "Olive, coffee, and borage families", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed.other.asterids.lamiid-families.olive-coffee-and-borage-families" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed.other.asterids.lamiid-families.olive-coffee-and-borage-families.boraginaceae-and-relatives", "label": "Boraginaceae and relatives", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed.other.asterids.lamiid-families.olive-coffee-and-borage-families.boraginaceae-and-relatives" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed.other.asterids", "label": "United States · Not dated: Asterids", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed.other.asterids", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.nodate", "label": "United States · Not dated", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate" }, { "id": "geo.us.nodate.life", "label": "Life and health", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate.life" }, { "id": "geo.us.nodate.life.plants", "label": "Plants and algae", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate.life.plants" }, { "id": "geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed", "label": "Seed plants", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed" }, { "id": "geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed.other", "label": "Other flowering plants", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed.other" }, { "id": "geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed.other.asterids", "label": "Asterids", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed.other.asterids" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Mertensia virginica, Virginia bluebells or Virginia cowslip, is a spring-ephemeral perennial in Boraginaceae native from Ontario and Quebec to the eastern and central United States, with pink buds opening to blue flowers and NatureServe rank G5.", "snippet": "Mertensia virginica, Virginia bluebells or Virginia cowslip, is a spring-ephemeral perennial in Boraginaceae native from Ontario and Quebec to the eastern and central United States, with pink buds opening to blue flowers and NatureServe rank G5.", "node": "life.plants.seed.other.asterids.lamiid-families.olive-coffee-and-borage-families.boraginaceae-and-relatives", "markdown": "# Mertensia virginica\n\n**Mertensia virginica** (L.) Pers. ex Link, commonly known as Virginia bluebells, is a perennial herb in the borage family ([Boraginaceae](https://www.edgepedia.org/boraginaceae)) native to eastern North America, where it grows in moist woodlands and river floodplains and produces pink buds that open into sky-blue, bell-shaped flowers in spring.[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/118695-1) • [4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/) Other English common names include Virginia cowslip and Roanoke-bells; the [French name](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-name) is mertensie de Virginie and the [German name](https://www.edgepedia.org/german-name) is virginisches Blauglöckchen.[3](https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=410978)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Scientific name | *Mertensia virginica* (L.) Pers. ex Link, first published in Handbuch 1: 580 (1829); accepted by Plants of the World Online[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/118695-1) |\n| Family and genus | Boraginaceae, genus *Mertensia*; GRIN places it in subfamily Cynoglossoideae, tribe Asperugeae[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/118695-1) • [3](https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=410978) |\n| Life form | Perennial growing primarily in the temperate biome; a spring ephemeral that dies back to the ground by early summer[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/118695-1) • [4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/) |\n| Native range | Eastern Canada to the north-central and eastern United States, from Ontario and Québec south to Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, west to Kansas[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/118695-1) • [5](https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/abstracts/botany/Mertensia_virginica.pdf) |\n| Global conservation status | NatureServe G5 (secure), last reviewed 26 July 2016; Kew's extinction-risk prediction is \"not threatened\"[2](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.138078/Mertensia_virginica) • [6](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A118695-1/general-information) |\n| Garden size | Erect clumps up to 2 feet tall and about a foot wide[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/) |\n| Uses | Ornamental, and recorded in folklore medicine[3](https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=410978) |\n\n## Taxonomy and nomenclature\n\nThe species was first described by Linnaeus as *Pulmonaria virginica* in *Species Plantarum* (1753), and the current combination *Mertensia virginica* was published in Handbuch 1: 580 (1829).[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/118695-1) Plants of the World Online lists 14 synonyms, including homotypic names such as *Casselia virginica* (Dumort., 1822), *Pneumaria virginica* (Hill, 1764), and *Lithospermum virginicum* (Billb., 1832–1833), and heterotypic names such as *Mertensia pulmonarioides* Roth (1797) and three color-form designations, *f. alba* Allard (1951), *f. berdi* Moldenke (1951), and *f. rosea* Steyerm. (1960).[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/118695-1)\n\nOne synonym has practical importance in horticulture. Pringle (2004), in his overview of the nomenclature of the species, emphasizes that *Mertensia pulmonarioides* Roth, a name applied increasingly in horticultural literature and in seed and nursery catalogs, is incorrect and should not be used.[5](https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/abstracts/botany/Mertensia_virginica.pdf) GRIN's references show the same name in circulation under Bennett's 2003 account of the borage family, which lists the species as *Mertensia pulmonarioides* with the common name Roanoke-bells.[3](https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=410978)\n\n## Distribution and habitat\n\nThe native range runs from eastern Canada to the north-central and eastern United States.[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/118695-1) According to the Michigan Natural Features Inventory abstract, the species' overall range covers eastern North America: it extends from Ontario and Québec down to Georgia, Alabama, and [Mississippi](https://www.edgepedia.org/mississippi), occupies much of the western part of its distribution between Minnesota and Arkansas, and reaches its western limit in Kansas.[5](https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/abstracts/botany/Mertensia_virginica.pdf) Kew lists the species as native to 29 states and provinces, from Alabama, Arkansas, and Delaware through the midwestern and northeastern states to Ontario, Québec, Virginia, and Wisconsin; GRIN additionally records it as cultivated.[1](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/118695-1) • [3](https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=410978) In the wild it occupies moist woodlands and river floodplains.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/)\n\n## Life history\n\nVirginia bluebells is a spring ephemeral, a plant that completes its visible growth early in the growing season and then disappears. The erect clumps grow up to 2 feet tall and about a foot wide, and they die back to the ground by early summer as the plant goes dormant shortly after flowering and setting seed.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/) Under ideal conditions the plants often form dense colonies and readily self-seed.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/)\n\nThe species prefers part to full shade and moist, rich soil, and it does best when moisture is abundant, declining if the soil is too dry.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/) It has few pests and is not favored by deer.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/)\n\n## Conservation status\n\nNatureServe assigns the species a global rank of G5, meaning secure, at very low risk of extinction due to a very extensive range and abundant populations; the rank was last reviewed on 26 July 2016.[2](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.138078/Mertensia_virginica) • [7](https://www.natureserve.org/nsexplorer/about-the-data/statuses/conservation-status-categories) The species is not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and COSEWIC has assigned no status in Canada.[2](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.138078/Mertensia_virginica)\n\nStatus varies considerably at the edge of the range. In Canada the national rank is N3 (vulnerable), with Ontario ranked S3 and Québec unrankable (SU) for lack of information.[2](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.138078/Mertensia_virginica) Among the U.S. states, Kansas and Mississippi are ranked S1 (critically imperiled), Georgia, New Jersey, and North Carolina S2 (imperiled), Michigan a range rank of S1S2, and Delaware S3, while core states such as Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are ranked S5 (secure).[2](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.138078/Mertensia_virginica) Kew's Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1, a 2024 model-based assessment for the world's flowering plants, predicts the species is not threatened, with confident confidence.[6](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A118695-1/general-information)\n\n## In the garden\n\n*Mertensia virginica* is easily naturalized in moist, shady woodland settings and works well in wildflower gardens.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/) It combines well with bleeding heart, celandine poppy (*Stylophorum diphyllum*), and *[Trillium grandiflorum](https://www.edgepedia.org/trillium-grandiflorum)* for an exclusively spring garden, or with yellow daffodils and pink tulips for a spring show.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/)\n\n**Managing summer dormancy.** Because the foliage dies and leaves blank spaces when the plant is dormant, gardeners interplant it with shade-loving perennials such as hosta, astilbe, bugbane (*Cimicifuga racemosa*), Solomon's seal, twinleaf (*Jeffersonia diphylla*), or ferns, which fill the gaps later in the season; shallow-rooted annuals can also be overplanted.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/) In mixed beds the plants' location should be marked to avoid digging them up or planting on top of them while dormant.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/)\n\nPotted plants are set 10 to 18 inches apart, in fall or after the last frost in spring.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/) Seedlings have two bright green cotyledons with the first true leaf growing opposite them; small seedlings can be transplanted but take several years to bloom.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/) Established plants have a long taproot and should generally not be disturbed, though they can be moved during their dormant period if necessary.[4](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Mertensia virginica (L.) Pers. ex Link, Plants of the World Online, Kew Science](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/118695-1)\n2. [Mertensia virginica, NatureServe Explorer](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.138078/Mertensia_virginica)\n3. [Mertensia virginica (L.) Pers. ex Link, GRIN-Global, USDA Agricultural Research Service](https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=410978)\n4. [Virginia Bluebells, Mertensia virginica, Wisconsin Horticulture, University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-bluebells-mertensia-virginica/)\n5. [Special Plant Abstract for Mertensia virginica (Virginia bluebells), Michigan Natural Features Inventory](https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/abstracts/botany/Mertensia_virginica.pdf)\n6. [Mertensia virginica, general information, Plants of the World Online, Kew Science](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A118695-1/general-information)\n7. [Conservation Status Categories, NatureServe](https://www.natureserve.org/nsexplorer/about-the-data/statuses/conservation-status-categories)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Plants and algae › Seed plants › Other flowering plants › Asterids › Lamiid families › Olive, coffee, and borage families › Boraginaceae and relatives*\n\n*Initially written Oct 21, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/mertensia-virginica", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/mertensia-virginica.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Mertensia virginica\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/mertensia-virginica. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Mertensia virginica](https://www.edgepedia.org/mertensia-virginica)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/mertensia-virginica](https://www.edgepedia.org/mertensia-virginica). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Mertensia virginica\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/mertensia-virginica. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Mertensia virginica, Virginia bluebells or Virginia cowslip, is a spring-ephemeral perennial in Boraginaceae native from Ontario and Quebec to the eastern and central United States, with pink buds opening to blue flowers and NatureServe rank G5." }