Red Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua)
Description
Chelone obliqua is an herbaceous perennial plant, that grows to a height of 2 to 3 feet and can spread out in 1 to 2 feet.The central stem is light green, smooth and hairless, and cylindrical; there are pairs of opposite leaves along the sides that tend to droop. Its leaf blades are lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, hairless, and serrated along their margins. The upper blade exhibits a dark green surface, while the lower blade surface is a paler green. A petiole is arising from the base of each leaf blade.It blooms later than some herbaceous perennials, in mid to late summer. The flowers are tubular 2-lipped blooms, with a small yellow beard inside each lower lip.There is no floral scent and are cross pollinated by bees and attracted to butterflies.An ovoid seed capsules evolves subsequent to the corollas of the flowers turning brown and falling off. The seeds capsules are initially light green and uncovered (no coating), and later turns brown and splits open to release the seeds. It has a rhizome root system, with occasional vegetative colony growth
Taxonomic tree
-
Domain: Eukarya
-
-
Kingdom: Plantae
-
-
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
-
-
Class: Magnoliopsida
-
-
Order: Lamiales
-
-
Family: Plantaginaceae
-
-
Genus: Chelone
-
-
-
-
-
-
