Triodanis perfoliata explained

Triodanis perfoliata, the clasping Venus' looking-glass or clasping bellflower,^[1] is an annual flowering plant belonging to the family Campanulaceae (bellflower family). It is an annual herb native to North and South America, the natural range extending from Canada to Argentina. It is also naturalized in China, Korea and Australia.^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

Description

T. perfoliata is an annual plant that grows to a height of NaN0NaN0, occasionally taller, with a central, unbranched, lightly hairy stem featuring alternate leaves that clasp the stem. The leaves are light green, rounded, up to 11NaN1 long, and are scallop-edged and shell-shaped. Both the stem and the leaves contain a milky sap.^[8]

On the upper part of the stem, 1-3 flowers emerge from the leaf axils, although only 1 of these flowers will be blooming at any one time.^[8] These flowers are wheel-shaped or bell-shaped, violet blue (rarely white^[9]), and approximately 0.51NaN1 across. They have 5-lobed corollas and are radially symmetrical. There are flowers on the lower part of the stem but they do not open, although they do produce seed.^[10] The plant produces a small, many seeded capsule with 2 or 3 sections for fruit.^[11]

Distribution and habitat

T. perfoliata is native in much of North and South America. In Canada, it grows in Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec. In the United States, it's native in every state except Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii. It is also native to Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.^[12] The plant grows in disturbed sites, open woods, grassy slopes, rocky outcrops, gravelly areas, and roadsides, mainly in poor, dry, sandy, or gravelly soil.^[1]

Ecology

Flowers bloom from May to August and attract a variety of bees, flies, butterflies, and moths.^[10]

Uses among Native Americans

The Cherokee make a liquid compound of roots infused into a bath for dyspepsia(indigestion).^[13]

The Meskwaki use it as an emetic to make one "sick all day long",^[14] and smoke it at ceremonies.^[15]

External links

• Jepson Manual Treatment
• Photo gallery

Notes and References

1. Web site: Triodanis perfoliata subsp. biflora (Clasping bellflower, Clasping Bellwort, Clasping-leaved Venus' Looking-glass, Small Venus' Looking-glass, Venus Lookingglass) North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox . plants.ces.ncsu.edu.
2. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=356951 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
3. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242353002 Flora of China v 19 p 552, 穿叶异檐花 chuan ye yi yan hua, Triodanis perfoliata (Linnaeus) Nieuwland, Amer. Midl. Naturalist. 3: 192. 1914.
4. Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1–1192.
5. Lammers, T.G. (2007). World checklist and bibliography of Campanulaceae: 1–675. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
6. Theiret, John (2001). "North American Wildflowers", Alfred A. Knopf Inc.
7. http://florabonaerense.blogspot.com/2013/12/triodanis-perfoliata.html Flora Bonaerense, Plantas y Hongos de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina, (Triodanis perfoliata)
8. Web site: Venus' Looking Glass (Triodanis perfoliata) . www.illinoiswildflowers.info.
9. Book: Denison . Edgar . Missouri Wildflowers . 2017 . Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri . 978-1-887247-59-7 . 88 . Sixth.
10. Web site: Clasping Venus' Looking Glass . Missouri Department of Conservation . en.
11. Web site: Triodanis perfoliata (Clasping-leaved Venus' Looking-glass): Minnesota Wildflowers . www.minnesotawildflowers.info . en.
12. Web site: Triodanis perfoliata (L.) Nieuwl. Plants of the World Online Kew Science . Plants of the World Online . en.
13. Taylor, Linda Averill 1940 Plants Used As Curatives by Certain Southeastern Tribes. Cambridge, MA. Botanical Museum of Harvard University (p. 60)
14. Smith, Huron H. 1928 Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki Indians. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:175–326 (p. 206)
15. Smith, Huron H. 1928 Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki Indians. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:175–326 (p. 272)