Virginia Bluebells
Growth Habit
HerbaceousPropagation
Seed Treatment and Storage: keep seed moist; warm/cold/warm stratify, will develop a small rhizome in the soil before it sends up the first leaf.
Biocultural Value
The Cherokee took virginia bluebell for tuberculosis and whooping cough. The Haudenosaunee used the roots to treat venereal disease and as an antidote for poisons.
Wildlife Value
Virginia bluebell flowers can self pollinate, but substantially more seed is produced via cross pollination (Enz 1998). Floral visitors are primarily long-tongued bees, and include honeybees, bumblebees, Anthophorid bees (Anthophora spp., Synhalonia spp.), and mason bees (Osmia spp.) Short-tongued “robber bees” frequently cut holes in the flower to access nectar. Ruby-throated hummingbirds may also collect nectar from the flowers. Seeds are ant-dispersed. White-tailed deer occasionally browse the foliage.
Location
Mundy Wildflower GardenCultivation
Description
Plants 40—60-cm tall; leaves elliptic to ovate, blackish-purple to green, emerging with a metallic shine, later becoming paler blue-green to lettuce green and glabrous. Flowers pink in bud opening to sky-blue, rarely pink or white held in nodding clusters in April and May. Plants die back soon after flowering.
Source of plant
Sunny Border Nurseries
