Boraginaceae
Virginia bluebells
Mertensia virginica
- Family
- Boraginaceae
- Genus
- Mertensia
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Common names
By language (7)
- Arabic
- مرتنسيا
- English
- Virginia bluebells, Virginia bluebell, Lungwort oysterleaf, Virginia cowslip
- Icelandic
- Lotblálilja
- Malayalam
- മെർടെൻസിയ വിർജീനിക
- Norwegian Bokmål
- Klokkeøstersurt
- Russian
- Мертензия виргинская
- Swedish
- Pärlemorfjärva
Synonyms
- Casselia virginica (L.) Dumort.
- Cerinthodes virginica Kuntze
- Hippoglossum virginicum (L.) Lilja
- Lithospermum pulchrum Lehm.
- Lithospermum virginicum Billb.
- Mertensia pulmonarioides Roth
- Mertensia virginica f. berdi Moldenke
- Mertensia virginica f. rosea Steyerm.
- Pneumaria virginica Hill
- Pulmonaria virginica L.
- Steenhammera virginica (L.) Turcz.
- Steenhammera virginica Kostel.
Flowers
- In flower
- April (from 13,564 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
- Flower colour
- blue (USDA PLANTS Database)
Characteristics
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- In the US and Canada
- Canada: native, Lower 48 states: native
Photos
FlowerPhoto: Jacob Malcom, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Carrie Seltzer, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: k2018lena, CC0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Chris Hoess, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Khan "Sadh" N. Mostafa, CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Dguendel, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Daniel McClosky, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: wackybadger, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Jenn (McPhee) Dyson, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Hunter Hammil, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: kirk gardner, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
More in Mertensia
- OysterleafMertensia maritimaBoraginaceae
- Tall fringed bluebellsMertensia ciliataBoraginaceae
- Mertensia sibiricaBoraginaceae
- Small bluebellsMertensia longifloraBoraginaceae
- Beautiful bluebellsMertensia bellaBoraginaceae
- Mertensia davuricaBoraginaceae
- Prairie bluebellsMertensia lanceolataBoraginaceae
- Mertensia pterocarpaBoraginaceae
- Aspen bluebellsMertensia arizonicaBoraginaceae
- Shortstyle bluebellsMertensia brevistylaBoraginaceae
- Franciscan bluebellsMertensia franciscanaBoraginaceae
- Macdougal's bluebellsMertensia macdougaliiBoraginaceae
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.