Mertensia ciliata is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common names mountain bluebell, tall fringed bluebells, and streamside bluebells.
Description Mertensia ciliata is a perennial herb producing a cluster of erect stems from a thick, branching caudex. The leafy stems reach well over a meter in maximum height. The leaves are up to long, veiny, and oval to lance-shaped.
Blooming from May to August, the inflorescence is an open array of many clustered blue bell-shaped flowers each between long. The hanging, fragrant flower is tubular, expanding into a wider, lobed mouth. As the individual flowers progress in age they change in color from blue to pink-red.Barker, Joan. The Ultimate Guide to Wild Flowers of North America, page 249. Parragon. 2013.
Taxonomy In 1827 the botanist John Torrey described a new species in the genus Pulmonaria which he named Pulmonaria ciliata and credited to Edwin James. It was moved to the genus Mertensia in 1837 by George Don, giving the species its accepted name of Mertensia ciliata. Together with its genus it is classified in the Boraginaceae family and has two accepted varieties according to Plants of the World Online.
Mertensia ciliata var. ciliata – Widespread from Oregon to New Mexico Mertensia ciliata var. stomatechoides – Native to Oregon, California, & Nevada
Mertensia ciliata has synonyms of the species or one of its two varieties.
Table of Synonyms Name Year Rank Synonym of: Notes Mertensia ciliata f. candida 1917 form var. ciliata = het. Mertensia ciliata var. latiloba 1937 variety var. ciliata = het. Mertensia ciliata var. polyphylla 1909 variety var. ciliata = het. Mertensia ciliata var. punctata 1909 variety var. ciliata = het. Mertensia ciliata var. subpubescens 1917 variety var. ciliata = het. Mertensia incongruens 1917 species var. ciliata = het. Mertensia pallida 1909 species var. ciliata = het. Mertensia picta 1904 species var. ciliata = het. Mertensia platensis 1906 species var. ciliata = het. Mertensia polyphylla 1899 species var. ciliata = het. Mertensia polyphylla var. platensis 1905 variety var. ciliata = het. Mertensia punctata 1899 species var. ciliata = het. Mertensia stomatechoides 1861 species var. stomatechoides ≡ hom. Mertensia subpubescens 1903 species var. ciliata = het. Pulmonaria ciliata 1827 species M. ciliata ≡ hom. Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym ; = heterotypic synonym
Distribution and habitat It is native to the western United States. It grows throughout the southwestern US in the states of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. It is also found in the northwest in Oregon and Idaho. It also is known from the Rocky Mountain states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. It is found as far east as South Dakota.
It often grows in moist habitat, such as subalpine meadows and creeksides. It often carpets large areas of meadow and hillside with blue-green foliage and sweet-scented bluebell blooms.Southwest Colorado Wildflowers
Ecology The flowers bear poricidal anthers and are fertilized via buzz-pollination by several Bombus species. Primary nectar robbing by Bombus species, including B. occidentalis, is common in some populations.
Uses The flowers, young stems and leaves are edible raw;Montana Plant Life older leaves (when the plant tends to be hairy) should be cooked. The plant contains alkaloids so should not be eaten in high quantities.
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment