Triodanis perfoliata, the clasping Venus' looking-glass or clasping bellflower, is an annual flowering plant belonging to the family Campanulaceae (bellflower family). It is an annual herb native to North and South America, the natural range extending from Canada to Argentina. It is also naturalized in China, Korea and Australia.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesFlora of China v 19 p 552, 穿叶异檐花 chuan ye yi yan hua, Triodanis perfoliata (Linnaeus) Nieuwland, Amer. Midl. Naturalist. 3: 192. 1914. Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1–1192.Lammers, T.G. (2007). World checklist and bibliography of Campanulaceae: 1–675. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Theiret, John (2001). "North American Wildflowers", Alfred A. Knopf Inc.Flora Bonaerense, Plantas y Hongos de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina, (Triodanis perfoliata)
Description T. perfoliata is an annual plant that grows to a height of , occasionally taller, with a central, unbranched, lightly hairy stem featuring alternate leaves that clasp the stem. The leaves are light green, rounded, up to long, and are scallop-edged and shell-shaped. Both the stem and the leaves contain a milky sap.
On the upper part of the stem, 1-3 flowers emerge from the leaf axils, although only 1 of these flowers will be blooming at any one time. These flowers are wheel-shaped or bell-shaped, violet blue (rarely white), and approximately across. They have 5-lobed corollas and are radially symmetrical. There are flowers on the lower part of the stem but they do not open, although they do produce seed. The plant produces a small, many seeded capsule with 2 or 3 sections for fruit.
Distribution and habitat T. perfoliata is native in much of North and South America. In Canada, it grows in Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec. In the United States, it is native in every state except Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii. It is also native to Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. The plant grows in disturbed sites, open woods, grassy slopes, rocky outcrops, gravelly areas, and roadsides, mainly in poor, dry, sandy, or gravelly soil.
Ecology Flowers bloom from May to August and attract a variety of bees, flies, butterflies, and moths.
Triodanis perfoliata is insect pollinated and is recorded to have been visited in northern Florida by Ceratina sp. and Colletes brevicornis. 'Ulyshen, M. D., K. Robertson, S. Horn, and C. Dixon. 2024. Characterization of the bee community and pollination network in a southeastern U.S. pine savanna. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 12:1403602.
Uses among Native Americans The Cherokee make a liquid compound of roots infused into a bath for dyspepsia (indigestion).Taylor, Linda Averill 1940 Plants Used As Curatives by Certain Southeastern Tribes. Cambridge, MA. Botanical Museum of Harvard University (p. 60)
The Meskwaki use it as an emetic to make one "sick all day long",Smith, Huron H. 1928 Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki Indians. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:175–326 (p. 206) and smoke it at ceremonies.Smith, Huron H. 1928 Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki Indians. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:175–326 (p. 272)
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment Photo gallery