''Triodanis perfoliata'', the clasping Venus' looking-glass or clasping bellflower, is an

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Campanulaceae The family Campanulaceae (also bellflower family), of the order Asterales, contains nearly 2400 species in 84 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky sap. Among them are several familiar garden plants belo ...

(bellflower family). It is an annual

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

native to

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

, the natural range extending from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. It is also naturalized in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
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Description

''T. perfoliata'' is an annual plant that grows to a height of , occasionally taller, with a central, unbranched, lightly hairy stem featuring alternate leaves that clasp the stem. The leaves are light green, rounded, up to long, and are scallop-edged and shell-shaped. Both the stem and the leaves contain a milky sap. 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. These flowers are wheel-shaped or bell-shaped, violet blue (rarely white), and approximately 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. The plant produces a small, many seeded capsule with 2 or 3 sections for fruit. File:Triodanis perfoliata Tennessee.jpg, Showing cordate-clasping leaves and a maturing capsule

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. The plant grows in disturbed sites, open woods, grassy slopes, rocky outcrops, gravelly areas, and roadsides, mainly in poor, dry, sandy, or gravelly soil.

Ecology

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

Uses among Native Americans

The

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

make a liquid compound of roots infused into a bath for dyspepsia(indigestion). The

Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...

use it as an

emetic Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis ...

to make one "sick all day long", and smoke it at ceremonies.Smith, Huron H. 1928 Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki Indians. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4:175–326 (p. 272)

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4051771 Campanuloideae Flora of North America Flora of South America Plants used in traditional Native American medicine