Bluebowls

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Bluebowls calyx

Bluebowls leaves

Bluebowls

Bluebowls

Bluebowls

Bluebowls

Bluebowls

Bluebowls

Bluebowls flowers

Bluebowls flower

Bluebowls flower

Bluebowls

Bluebowls

Morphology

Stem

Widely spreading branches from base, minutely glandular-hairy.

Leaves

Alternate, pinnately-cleft to pinnate, 1/4 to 1 inch long, unequally divided; segments 2-7, needle-like to linear-oblong, 1/12 to 1/2 inch long, minutely glandular-hairy, tip sharp-pointed; lower stem leaves sessile or short-stalked; upper stem leaves gradually reduced.

Inflorescence

Solitary or in small, loose clusters; bracts linear to 3-cleft.

Flower

1/3 to 3/5 inch long; calyx cylindrical to egg-shaped, to 1/5 inch long, 5-lobed; lobes 1/2 to 2/3 length of calyx; corolla wheel-shaped, 5-lobed, blue-violet to purple with yellow eye; lobes circular to oval, 1/8 to 1/5 inch long; stamens 5, extending out.

Fruit

Capsule, broadly egg-shaped to oblong, 1/8 to 1/5 inch long; seeds 2-6 per compartment, slimy when wet.

Ecology

Habitat

Dry sandy or rocky prairies and hillsides.

Distribution

South 2/3 of west 1/3 of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans massaged the crushed plant on cramping muscles.

Additional Notes

Synonyms

Alternative scientific names that have been used for this plant.