VIRGINIA WATERLEAF
(Hydrophyllum Virginicum) Waterleaf family
Flowers - White or purplish tinged, in a single or forking
cluster on a long peduncle. Calyx deeply 5-parted, the spreading
segments very narrow, bristly hairy. Corolla erect, bell-shaped,
deeply 5-lobed; 5 protruding stamens, with soft hairs about their
middle;
2 styles united to almost the summit. Stem: Slender,
rather weak, to 3 ft. long, leafy, sparingly branched, from a
scaly rootstock. Leaves: Alternate, lower ones on long petioles,
6 to 10 in. long, pinnately divided into 5 to 7 oblong, sharply
toothed, acute leaflets or segments; upper leaves similar, but
smaller, and with fewer divisions.
Preferred Habitat - Rich, moist woods.
Flowering season - May-August.
Distribution - Quebec to South Carolina, west to Kansas and
Washington.
So very many flowers especially adapted to the bumblebee are in
bloom when the cymes of the waterleaf uncoil, like the borages,
from their immature roll, that some special inducement to attract
this benefactor were surely needed. In high altitudes the
clusters became deeper hued; but much as the more specialized
bees love color, food appeals to them far more. Accordingly the
five lobes of each little flower stand erect to increase the
difficulty a short-tongued insect would have to drain its
precious stores; the stamens are provided with hairs for the same
reason; and even the calyx is bristly, to discourage crawling
ants, the worst pilferers out. By these precautions against
theft, plenty of nectar remains for the large bees. To prevent
self-fertilization, pollen is shed on visitors, which remove it
from a newly opened flower before the stigmas become receptive to
any; but in any case these are elevated in maturity above the
anthers, well out of harm's way.
Early in spring the large lower leaves are calculated to hold the
drip from the trees overhead, hence the plant's scientific and
popular names.
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