Legousia speculum-veneris

Legousia speculum-veneris, the looking glass^[1] or large Venus's-looking-glass,^[2] is an annual ornamental plant in the family Campanulaceae (bellflowers). It blooms from June to August and is native to the Mediterranean region.

Characteristics

Legousia petal bases are straight (not bell-based as Campanula).

L. speculum-veneris flowers have a 5-part calyx under the flower-base with long very narrow arms, roughly equal to the petals and to the ovary (which appears at first like a stalk to the flower and in maturing swells).

The flowers lack the broad blue central band of L. pentagonia (found from Greece eastwards), which has comparatively shortened calyx arms.

However the Eastern Mediterranean has forms transitional between L. speculum-veneris and L. pentagonia suggestive of gene flow.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Synonyms

Campanula speculum-veneris L. – Sp. Pl.: 168 (1753), basionym
Legousia arvensis Durande – Fl. Bourgogne 1: 37 (1782), nom. superfl.
Prismatocarpus speculum-veneris (L.) L'Hér. – Sert. Angl.: 3 (1789)
Campanula pulchella Salisb. – Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton: 127 (1796), nom. superfl.
Legousia durandei Delarbre – Fl. Auvergne, ed. 2: 45 (1800), nom. superfl.
Campanula arvensis Pers. – Syn. Pl. 1: 193 (1805)
Prismatocarpus hirtus Ten. – Fl. Napol. 1(Prodr.): xvi (1811)
Campanula hirta (Ten.) Schult. – J.J.Roemer & J.A.Schultes, Syst. Veg. 5: 153 (1819)
Campanula cordata Vis. – Stirp. Dalmat. Spec.: 5 (1826)
Specularia speculum A.DC. — Monogr. Campan.: 346 (1830)^[6]
Specularia speculum-veneris (L.) A.DC. – Monogr. Campan.: 346 (1830)
Legousia speculum Fisch. ex A.DC. – Monogr. Campan.: 347 (1830)
Specularia speculum-veneris var. calycina A.DC. – Monogr. Campan.: 347 (1830)
Specularia speculum-veneris var. libanotica A.DC. – Monogr. Campan.: 347 (1830)
Specularia speculum-veneris var. pubescens A.DC. – Monogr. Campan.: 347 (1830)
Prismatocarpus cordatus (Vis.) Rchb. – Fl. Germ. Excurs.: 858 (1831)
Specularia cordata (Vis.) Heynh. – Nom. Bot. Hort.: 689 (1841)
Specularia vulgaris Kitt. – Taschenb. Fl. Deutschl., ed. 2: 483 (1843), nom. superfl.
Prismatocarpus speculum-veneris var. hirtus (Ten.) K.Koch – Linnaea 19: 30 (1846)
Specularia speculum-veneris var. stricta Griseb. – Spic. Fl. Rumel. 2: 279 (1846)
Specularia arvensis Montandon – F.Friche-Joset, Syn. Fl. Jura, ed. 2: 156 (1868)
Campanula trigona Ehrenb. ex Boiss. – Fl. Orient. 3: 959 (1875)
Specularia speculum-veneris var. racemosa Boiss. – Fl. Orient. 3: 959 (1875)
Specularia speculum-veneris var. cordata (Vis.) Nyman – Consp. Fl. Eur.: 483 (1879)
Specularia speculum-veneris var. hirta (Ten.) Nyman – Consp. Fl. Eur.: 483 (1879)
Specularia speculum-veneris subsp. hirta (Ten.) Arcang. – Comp. Fl. Ital.: 450 (1882)
Specularia speculum-veneris f. plena Voss – Vilm. Blumengärtn. ed. 3, 1: 563 (1894)
Specularia speculum-veneris f. procumbens Voss – Vilm. Blumengärtn. ed. 3, 1: 563 (1894)
Specularia speculum-veneris var. procumbens (Voss) auct. – Rev. Hort. 1897: 254 (1897)
Specularia speculum-veneris subvar. pubescens (A.DC.) Rouy – G.Rouy & J.Foucaud, Fl. France 10: 57 (1908)
Specularia polypiflora Davidov – Trav. Soc. Bulg. Sci. Nat. 8: 92 (1915)
Specularia hirta (Ten.) Gand. – Fl. Cret.: 69 (1916)
Legousia speculum-veneris f. calycina (A.DC.) Hayek – Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 30(2): 551 (1930)
Legousia speculum-veneris f. polypiflora (Davidov) Hayek – Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 30(2): 551 (1930)
Legousia speculum-veneris f. stricta (Griseb.) Hayek – Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 30(2): 551 (1930)
Githopsis latifolia Eastw. – Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. IV, 20: 154 (1931)

References

^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Legousia speculum-veneris". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
^ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
^ Davis. Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, vol. 6.
^ Tutin. Flora Europaea, vol. 4.
^ Flora iberica.
^ For syn. Specularia speculum see for instance: "Specimen L.3000413". Naturalis. Retrieved 2020-08-02.. See also: "Specularia speculum (L.) A. DC". efloras.org. Retrieved 2020-08-02.. Also: "Specularia speculum (L.) Tanfani". Brigham Young University, S. L. Welsh Herbarium. Retrieved 2020-08-02.. Also: "Specularia speculum A. DC". The PlantList. Retrieved 2020-08-02. etc.

Dominique Villars, Histoire des Plantes de Dauphiné 2: 338 (1786).
"WCSP". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
"Legousia speculum-veneris". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

External links

USDA Plants Profile: Legousia speculum-veneris