Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) with their lovely light blue and pink blooms
The many common names of Virginia Bluebells attest to its arresting blue efflorescence, a characteristic worthy of special note by early colonists. John Custis of Williamsburg, Virginia referred to them as "Mountain blew cowslip" in his correspondence with Peter Collinson in London in the 1740's. The cowslip (Primula veris) is a common flower in temperate Europe and Asia which blooms in April with 10-30 flowers on a single stem, much like Virginia Bluebells. The fact that cowslips are yellow did not deter those who saw a resemblance between the two from sowing the seeds of confusion. Thomas Jefferson grew Virginia Bluebells at Monticello which inspired the garden writers of the 18th Century from calling them "Jefferson's blue funnel flowers." Virginia bluebells have two interesting properties that contribute to their success as ephemeral wild flowers. Virginia bluebells form buds that are pink in color due to the anthocyanin (from the Greek anthos meaning flower and kyanos meaning blue) or colored cell sap that they contain. When the flower is ready for pollination, it increases its alkalinity to change the red pigmentation into blue pigmentation, a color that is much more attractive to pollinators. When the flower is pollinated and seed formation begins, it falls to the ground so that subsequent pollinators will only find those that still require their ministrations. The ubiquity of bluebells in their preferred riparian habitat (like Bull Run and the Potomac River Valley) is testimony to the success of their adaptations to attract insects. The folklore belief was that if you could turn the flower inside out without tearing it, then you would eventually win the one you loved. The Bluebells of Scotland are Campanula rotundifolia, which in North America is the harebell, a relatively common blue bell-shaped flower of the Northeast and Midwest. In Scottish folklore, fairies were thought to live in the flowers and they were therefore also known as Fairy Bells
Size: 5100px × 3839px
Location: Rochester Hills, Michigan, USA
Photo credit: © Cynthia Lindow / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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