Mertensia ciliata / mountain bluebells

Adjectives: clonal, edible, fragrant, interesting bits, native, riparian, wet meadows

Also known as: tall-fringed bluebells, mountain bluebells, streamside bluebells, chiming bluebells, languid ladies, fringed lungwort

Mountain bluebells are amongst the tallest members of the genus. Otherwise, like other bluebells, they are perennial, arising from a thick, branching caudex. The leafy stems reach up to 4 feet in maximum height. The stalk is stout and thick and grooved. The green/blue-green leaves are oval to lance-shaped, pointed and have prominent veins. They have a slightly rough surface and tiny white pointy-bits (cilia) along the edges.

Mountain bluebells bloom in early to late summer, with loose clusters of bell-shaped flowers, each up to an inch long. As with the sagebrush bluebell, these inflorescences have been described as “cymes, or panicle-, raceme-, head- or spike-like.” I’m going with clusters. The clusters hang down to one side of the stems but the stem remains upstanding. The flowers are fragrant. Each flower consists of a tubular corolla surrounding 5 petals. Where the petals “escape” from the tube, there is a pronounced flaring. The flowers change color from blue to red-pink as they age.

Spreading by rhizomes, mountain bluebells often carpet large areas of meadow and hillside in wet meadows, or near streams and seeps. It is found especially at medium to high elevations, e.g. on Tin Cup and at Darby Wind Cave.

Interesting bits – The flowers of mountain bluebells have poricidal anthers – meaning the pollen is released through small pores rather than being accessible to all comers. Because of this, they are fertilized by buzz-pollination by several Bombus bee species. The shape of the flower and the hiding of the nectar down in the tube also make them targets of nectar robbing bees.