Legousia speculum-veneris, the looking glass or large Venus's-looking-glass, is an annual ornamental plant in the family Campanulaceae (bellflowers). It blooms from June to August and is native to the Mediterranean region.
Characteristics Legousia petal bases are straight (not bell-based as Campanula).
L. speculum-veneris flowers have a 5-part calyx under the flower-base with long very narrow arms, roughly equal to the petals and to the ovary (which appears at first like a stalk to the flower and in maturing swells).
The flowers lack the broad blue central band of L. pentagonia (found from Greece eastwards), which has comparatively shortened calyx arms.
However the Eastern Mediterranean has forms transitional between L. speculum-veneris and L. pentagonia suggestive of gene flow.
Synonyms Campanula speculum-veneris Legousia arvensis Prismatocarpus speculum-veneris Campanula pulchella Legousia durandei Campanula arvensis Prismatocarpus hirtus Campanula hirta Campanula cordata Specularia speculum For syn. Specularia speculum see for instance: . See also: . Also: . Also: etc. Specularia speculum-veneris Legousia speculum Specularia speculum-veneris var. calycina Specularia speculum-veneris var. libanotica Specularia speculum-veneris var. pubescens Prismatocarpus cordatus Specularia cordata Specularia vulgaris Prismatocarpus speculum-veneris var. hirtus Specularia speculum-veneris var. stricta Specularia arvensis Campanula trigona Specularia speculum-veneris var. racemosa Specularia speculum-veneris var. cordata Specularia speculum-veneris var. hirta Specularia speculum-veneris subsp. hirta Specularia speculum-veneris f. plena Specularia speculum-veneris f. procumbens Specularia speculum-veneris var. procumbens Specularia speculum-veneris subvar. pubescens Specularia polypiflora Specularia hirta Legousia speculum-veneris f. calycina Legousia speculum-veneris f. polypiflora Legousia speculum-veneris f. stricta Githopsis latifolia
References
Dominique Villars, Histoire des Plantes de Dauphiné 2: 338 (1786).
External links USDA Plants Profile: Legousia speculum-veneris