Large-flower Bellwort

Uvularia grandiflora

Over the past couple weeks, bellflower bloomed in droves. This butter-yellow beauty, like many of the ephemerals I’ve featured here, is an indicator of rich woods and calcareous soils. And we’re lucky to have it here in Vermont— in nearby NH and CT, Uvularia grandiflora is endangered. Deer browse is a significant factor in its decline in many places.

perfoliate leaf on the left, reproductive parts on the right

The flower dangles delicately, its twisting petals surrounding long stamens and an even longer pistil. Bellwort attracts a variety of pollinators but especially bumble bees.

My favorite feature of Bellwort is not the flower though, however beautiful. It’s the plant’s leaves, which appear to be pierced by the stems (this is called perfoliate). The leaves tend to curl up and twist a bit, like the flower petals, and the whole thing reminds me of an elegant, sophisticated lady.

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BONUS PLANT: Sessile Bellwort, Uvularia sessilifolia. Often called Wild Oats.

This is another early-blooming bellwort we have in Vermont. The pale, sweet flowers are bell-shaped. Unlike many bell-shaped flowers, Sessile Bellwort’s petals are not fused together. You can see the resemblance between these two species: both have petals that curve, flowers that droop from the stem, their stamens and pistils look very similar, and both have oblong, alternate leaves that sort of shade the flower. You can tell them apart before (and after) they bloom by Large-flower Bellwort’s perfoliate leaves, which is a characteristic Sessile Bellwort lacks.

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All illustrations and photos are my own.

Note: This is the eleventh in a series of posts on spring ephemeral wildflowers.

Previous posts:

• Skunk Cabbage

• Hepatica

• Bloodroot

• Blue Cohosh

• Dutchman’s Breeches

• Yellow Trout Lily

• Carolina Spring Beauty

• Red Trillium

• White Trillium

• Early Meadow Rue

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