BLUEBELL FAMILY CAMPANULACEAE 
VENUS’ LOOKING GLASS 
Specularia perfoliata (L.) A. DC. 
This is a small flower that grows mostly in dry open places 
from Maine to British Columbia and south to Florida and 
Mexico. It also occurs in some of the islands of the West Indies. 
It is an annual plant with a slender, 
rather weak stem 6-24 inches high, more or 
less hairy and densely leafy. It is usually 
simple but sometimes branches near the 
base. Leaves are 6-24 inches long and one- 
quarter inch to 1 inch wide, and round 
toothed or sometimes entire. The upper 
are strongly clasping about the stem but 
the lower may be merely sessile. 
The flowers, which may be produced 
any time between May and September, are 
1-3 sessile in the axils of the leaves. Early 
flowers are produced in the lower axils and 
have a 3 or 4-lobed calyx and a shorter, 
rudimentary corolla, but are dwarfed and 
do not open. Later flowers are borne higher 
on the stem and have a 4 or 5-lobed calyx 
and a beautiful blue or violet wheel-shaped 
corolla nearly 1 inch broad. There are 5 
stamens with flat, membranous, hairy 
filaments that are shorter than the anthers. 
The 3-celled ovary is below the other floral 
parts and there is 1 style with 3 stigmas. 
The capsule is oblong or narrowly top shaped 
and it finally opens at about the middle by 
3 little valves. The many small seeds have 
the shape of a double convex lens. 
PE a iC ae ae ne le ee 
And Sunday flowers were here as well— 
Adam and Eve within their hood, 
The stately Canterbury bell, 
And, oft in churches breathing fragrance, 
The sweet and pungent southernwood. 
A Puritan Lady’s Garden—SaraH N. CLEGHORN 
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