Legousia speculum-veneris

Large Venus's-looking-glass
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Campanulaceae
Genus:	Legousia
Species:	L. speculum-veneris
Binomial name
Legousia speculum-veneris (L.) Chaix

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-venerisL. – Sp. Pl.: 168 (1753), basionym
• Legousia arvensisDurande – Fl. Bourgogne 1: 37 (1782), nom. superfl.
• Prismatocarpus speculum-veneris(L.) L'Hér. – Sert. Angl.: 3 (1789)
• Campanula pulchellaSalisb. – Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton: 127 (1796), nom. superfl.
• Legousia durandeiDelarbre – Fl. Auvergne, ed. 2: 45 (1800), nom. superfl.
• Campanula arvensisPers. – Syn. Pl. 1: 193 (1805)
• Prismatocarpus hirtusTen. – Fl. Napol. 1(Prodr.): xvi (1811)
• Campanula hirta(Ten.) Schult. – J.J.Roemer & J.A.Schultes, Syst. Veg. 5: 153 (1819)
• Campanula cordataVis. – Stirp. Dalmat. Spec.: 5 (1826)
• Specularia speculumA.DC. — Monogr. Campan.: 346 (1830) ^[6]
• Specularia speculum-veneris(L.) A.DC. – Monogr. Campan.: 346 (1830)
• Legousia speculumFisch. ex A.DC. – Monogr. Campan.: 347 (1830)
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. calycinaA.DC. – Monogr. Campan.: 347 (1830)
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. libanoticaA.DC. – Monogr. Campan.: 347 (1830)
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. pubescensA.DC. – Monogr. Campan.: 347 (1830)
• Prismatocarpus cordatus(Vis.) Rchb. – Fl. Germ. Excurs.: 858 (1831)
• Specularia cordata(Vis.) Heynh. – Nom. Bot. Hort.: 689 (1841)
• Specularia vulgarisKitt. – 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. strictaGriseb. – Spic. Fl. Rumel. 2: 279 (1846)
• Specularia arvensisMontandon – F.Friche-Joset, Syn. Fl. Jura, ed. 2: 156 (1868)
• Campanula trigonaEhrenb. ex Boiss. – Fl. Orient. 3: 959 (1875)
• Specularia speculum-veneris var. racemosaBoiss. – 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. plenaVoss – Vilm. Blumengärtn. ed. 3, 1: 563 (1894)
• Specularia speculum-veneris f. procumbensVoss – 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 polypifloraDavidov – 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 latifoliaEastw. – Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. IV, 20: 154 (1931)

L. speculum-veneris

References

1. NRCS. "Legousia speculum-veneris". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 24 January 2016.
2. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
3. Davis. Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, vol. 6.
4. Tutin. Flora Europaea, vol. 4.
5. Flora iberica.
6. 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