sessile-leaf bellwort

(Uvularia sessilifolia)

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

Wetland Indicator Status

Great Plains

FACW - Facultative wetland

Midwest

FACW - Facultative wetland

Northcentral & Northeast

FACW - Facultative wetland

 
sessile-leaf bellwort
 
 
Description

Sessile-leaf bellwort is a 4 to 12 tall, erect, herbaceous perennial rising on a single stem from an elongate, slender rhizome. It often forms colonies.

The stems are rounded, forked once above the middle, and have sheathing bracts at the base. They are light green or reddish-green, hairless, are covered with a whitish, waxy coating (glaucous). On young, flowering plants the stem is usually unforked and the upper stem nods under the weight of the leaves and flowers. On mature, fruiting plants the stems are forked once or twice and are reclining. There is usually just a single leaf below the fork of the stem. One branch is sterile and has 4 to 8 leaves, one branch is fertile and has several leaves and 1 to 3 flowers.

The leaves are alternate, untoothed, 1½ to 2½ long and to 1¼ wide, oval to oblong egg-shaped, with a pointed tip and a rounded base. They attach to the stem without a stalk (sessile) but do not wrap around the stem at their base. The upper surface of the leaf is hairless and bright green to bluish-green. They have 3 to 5 prominent, parallel veins. On the underside of the leaf the veins are covered with minute white hairs. On young plants the leaves are soft, drooping, and somewhat rolled. On mature plants the leaves are firm and are held horizontally.

The inflorescence is a single flower at the end of a flowering branch. It may appear to be born in a leaf axil, since the forked stem on which it is born ends abruptly after forking.

The flowers are bell-shaped, ½ to 1 long, nodding and slightly fragrant. They are borne on ¼ to long flower stalks and are subtended with a single bract. There are 6 cream to pale straw-yellow overlapping tepals. The interior surface of the tepals are hairless.

The fruit is a 3-celled, greenish to yellowish-brown, to 1 long, to wide capsule. The capsule is egg-shaped to pyramid-shaped, with a rounded tip and 3 sharp lobes. The lobes are not beaked. Each cell contains several seeds.

 

Height

4 to 12

 

Flower Color

Cream to pale straw-yellow

 

Similar Species

Large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) is a taller plant, 8 to 20 tall. The leaves are perfoliate and larger, 2 to 5 long and ¾ to 2 wide. There are 1 to 3 flowers per stem. The flowers are yellow and larger, 1 to 2 long. The seed capsules have well-rounded lobes and are shorter, to long.

Perfoliate bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata) has perfoliate leaves. It does not occur in Minnesota.

Habitat

Moderate moisture. Forests edges and openings.

Ecology

Flowering

April to May

 

Pests and Diseases

 

Use

 

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

5/14/2024    
     

Nativity

Native

     

Occurrence

 

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae (green algae and land plants)

Subkingdom

Viridiplantae (green plants)

Infrakingdom

Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)

Superdivision

Embryophyta (land plants)

Division

Tracheophyta (vascular plants)

Subdivision

Spermatophytina (seed plants) / Angiospermae (flowering plants)

Class

Liliopsida (monocots)

Order

Liliales (lilies, supplejacks, and allies)

Family

Colchicaceae (bellworts and allies)

Tribe

Uvularieae

Genus

Uvularia (bellworts)

Section

Oakesiella (sessile-leaved bellworts)

   

Subordinate Taxa

 

   

Synonyms

Oakesia sessilifolia

Oakesiella sessilifolia

   

Common Names

little merrybells

pale bellwort

sessile bellwort

sessile leaved bellwort

sessileleaf bellwort

sessile-leaf bellwort

sessile-leaved bellwort

small marybells

small merrybells

spreading bellwort

straw lily

wild oats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Beak

A comparatively short and stout, narrow or prolonged tip on a thickened organ, as on some fruits and seeds.

 

Bract

Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.

 

Glaucous

Pale green or bluish gray due to a whitish, powdery or waxy film, as on a plum or a grape.

 

Perfoliate

A leaf having margins that entirely surround the stem, giving the appearance that the stem is growing through the leaf.

 

Rhizome

A horizontal, usually underground stem. It serves as a reproductive structure, producing roots below and shoots above at the nodes.

 

Sepal

An outer floral leaf, usually green but sometimes colored, at the base of a flower.

 

Sessile

Stalkless; attached at the base without a petiole, peduncle, pedicel, or stalk.

 

Sheath

The lower part of the leaf that surrounds the stem.

 

Tepal

Refers to both the petals and the sepals of a flower when they are similar in appearance and difficult to tell apart. Tepals are common in lilies and tulips.

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Luciearl

sessile-leaf bellwort  

sessile-leaf bellwort

Bill Reynolds

sessile-leaf bellwort  

 

Sessileleaf Bellwort St Louis Co MN. I've always known it as Wild Oats.  

 

Anne Sundal

sessile-leaf bellwort  

 

MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
sessile-leaf bellwort  

sessile-leaf bellwort

 

Camera

Slideshows

Sessile Bellwort (sessile-leaf bellwort) (Uvularia sessilifolia)
Andree Reno Sanborn

Sessile Bellwort (sessile-leaf bellwort) (Uvularia sessilifolia)

 

slideshow

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Other Videos

Edible & Medicinal Wild Oats / Bellwort ( Uvularia sessilifolia )
Prepare2Survive

About

Published on May 3, 2012

MORE INFO - http://www.sierrapotomac.org/W_Needham/Bellwort_060507.htm

http://www.voyageurcountry.com/htmls/floweringplants/plants/bellwortsessile.html

http://www.naturalmedicinalherbs.net/herbs/u/uvularia-sessilifolia=bellwort.php

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Uvularia+sessilifolia

Wild Oats / Bellwort ( Uvularia sessilifolia )
ThePlantVideos

About

Published on Jun 30, 2012

Camera used - Toshiba Camileo bw10

MyNature Apps; Identifying Wild Oats, Uvularia sessilifolia
MyNatureApps

About

Uploaded on May 7, 2011

Identifying Wild Oats, Uvularia sessilifolia. www.mynatureapps.com

 

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Luciearl
6/8/2024

Location: Cass County

sessile-leaf bellwort

Luciearl
5/12/2024

Location: Cass County

sessile-leaf bellwort
Anne Sundal
5/21/2014

Location: Mahtomedi, MN

growing wild in our woodland garden

sessile-leaf bellwort
Bill Reynolds
5/28/2004

Location: St. Louis Co. MN

Sessileleaf Bellwort St Louis Co MN. I've always known it as Wild Oats.

sessile-leaf bellwort
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