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''Mertensia virginica'' (common names Virginia bluebell, Virginia cowslip, lungwort oysterleaf, Roanoke bells) is a spring ephemeral plant with bell-shaped sky-blue flowers, native to eastern North America. ==Description== Virginia bluebell has rounded and gray-green leaves, borne on stems up to tall. They are petiolate at the bottom of the flower stem and sessile at the top. Flowerbuds are pink. Flowers have five petals fused into a tube, five stamens, and a central pistil (carpel). They are borne in mid-spring in nodding spiral-shaped cymes at the end of arched stems. Flowers are usually blue, but white or pink flowers occur rarely. The stamens and stigma are spaced too far apart for self-fertilization. The flower can be pollinated by bumblebees but, due to its funnel shape bumblebees must hover, making the bumblebee a rare pollinator. Butterflies are the most common pollinators because they can easily perch on the edges and still enjoy the nectar. In early summer, each fertilized flower produces four seeds within wrinkled nuts, and the plant goes dormant till the next spring. Plants are hardy to hardiness zone 3: . In cultivation, ''M. virginica'' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1274 )〕 Virginia Bluebell Mertensia virginica Plant 2262px.jpg|Leaves before blooming Mertensia buds cropped.png|Flower buds Mertensia virginica (Flower).jpg|Typical blue-flowered form at the botanical gardens in Berlin, Germany Mertensia-virginica-pink-2014-05-05-Fox-Chapel-PA.jpg|A pink-flowered form Bluebell3.jpg|A white-flowered form Mertensia_virginica_seeds.jpg|Fruits Mertensia virginica colony in floodplain forest habitat 2.jpg|Woods carpeted in bluebells 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mertensia virginica」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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