Boraginaceae

Prairie bluebells

Mertensia lanceolata (Pursh) DC.

Family: Boraginaceae
Genus: Mertensia

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Prairie bluebells: There are lots of lovely Mertensias in North America especially, and we don't see a lot of them here. This one came from Kevock nursery I think, last year and s — Photo: peganum from Small Dole, England, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons

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Common names

By language (1)

English: Prairie bluebells, Foothill mertensia, Lanceleaf chiming bells

Synonyms

Casselia lanceolata (Pursh) Dumort.
Cerinthodes lanceolata Kuntze
Lithospermum marginatum Spreng.
Mertensia lanceolata var. aperta Cockerell
Mertensia marginata G.Don
Mertensia papillosa Greene
Pulmonaria lanceolata Pursh
Pulmonaria marginata Nutt.

Characteristics

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Canada: native, Lower 48 states: native

Photos

Photo: peganum from Small Dole, England, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Jeff Birek https://www.inaturalist.org/people/jefsilentf, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Spencer Hurt https://www.inaturalist.org/people/spencer3616, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Ellyne Geurts https://www.inaturalist.org/people/ellyne, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Todd Boland, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Amanda Fisher, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Amanda Fisher, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Bob Walker, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Bob Walker, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons

More in Mertensia

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.