Legousia speculum-veneris explained

Legousia speculum-veneris, the looking glass or large Venus's-looking-glass, is an annual ornamental plant in the family Campanulaceae (bellflowers). It blooms from June to August and is native to the Mediterranean region.

Characteristics

Legousia petal bases are straight (not bell-based as Campanula).

L. speculum-veneris flowers have a 5-part calyx under the flower-base with long very narrow arms, roughly equal to the petals and to the ovary (which appears at first like a stalk to the flower and in maturing swells).

The flowers lack the broad blue central band of L. pentagonia (found from Greece eastwards), which has comparatively shortened calyx arms.

However the Eastern Mediterranean has forms transitional between L. speculum-veneris and L. pentagonia suggestive of gene flow.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Synonyms

• Campanula speculum-veneris
• Legousia arvensis
• Prismatocarpus speculum-veneris
• Campanula pulchella
• Legousia durandei
• Campanula arvensis
• Prismatocarpus hirtus
• Campanula hirta
• Campanula cordata
• Specularia speculum ^[4]
• Specularia speculum-veneris
• Legousia speculum
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. calycina
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. libanotica
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. pubescens
• Prismatocarpus cordatus
• Specularia cordata
• Specularia vulgaris
• Prismatocarpus speculum-veneris var. hirtus
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. stricta
• Specularia arvensis
• Campanula trigona
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. racemosa
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. cordata
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. hirta
• Specularia speculum-veneris subsp. hirta
• Specularia speculum-veneris f. plena
• Specularia speculum-veneris f. procumbens
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. procumbens
• Specularia speculum-veneris subvar. pubescens
• Specularia polypiflora
• Specularia hirta
• Legousia speculum-veneris f. calycina
• Legousia speculum-veneris f. polypiflora
• Legousia speculum-veneris f. stricta
• Githopsis latifolia

References

• Dominique Villars, Histoire des Plantes de Dauphiné 2: 338 (1786).
• Web site: WCSP. World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 2011-11-29.
  • Book: Pink, A. . Gardening for the Million. 2004 . Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

External links

• USDA Plants Profile: Legousia speculum-veneris

Notes and References

1. Book: Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, vol. 6 . Davis.
2. Book: Flora Europaea, vol. 4 . Tutin.
3. Book: Flora iberica.
4. For syn. Specularia speculum see for instance: Web site: Specimen L.3000413 . Naturalis . 2020-08-02. . See also: Web site: Specularia speculum (L.) A. DC. . efloras.org . 2020-08-02. . Also: Web site: Specularia speculum (L.) Tanfani . Brigham Young University, S. L. Welsh Herbarium . 2020-08-02. . Also: Web site: Specularia speculum A. DC. . The PlantList . 2020-08-02. etc.