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

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 bel ...

(bellflower family). It is an annual

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

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 (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, the natural range extending from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. It is also naturalized in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

.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 is 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 (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

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, puking and throwing up) is the 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, preg ...

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 Northern America Flora of Southern America Plants used in traditional Native American medicine