Uvularia floridana Chapm.

Florida Bellwort

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Florida Bellwort is a native herbaceous perennial in the Saffron family (Colchicaceae). It is native to the southern half of Alabama. Florida Bellwort grows in mesic to wet hardwood forests, prairie forests along streams, and in alluvial bottomlands. It is a perennial from an elongate rhizome. It often forms clonal colonies from stolons. Stems are 8-16 inches in height and unbranched or branched once. The stems are angled with glabrous nodes. Leaves are alternate, sessile, elliptic in outline, glabrous, and minutely toothed along the margins. Flowers are solitary and one per stem. The peduncle bears an ovate leafy bract between the stem and the flower. Flowers are nodding, with six pale yellowish-white tepals that taper to a point. The fruit is a three-winged capsule. Florida Bellwort is similar to Sessile Leaf Bellwort (Uvularia sessilifolia Linnaeus), but that species lacks the bract on the peduncle and its flowers are darker yellow in color. Florida Bellwort is listed as a S1 species in Alabama (typically 5 or fewer occurrences, very few remaining individuals, acres, or miles of stream, or some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable in the state), and globally as a G3 species (Imperiled globally because of rarity (6 - 20 occurrences, or few remaining acres, or miles of stream) or very vulnerable to extinction throughout its range because of other factors).--A. Diamond

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Native FACW (NWPL) S1 (State Rank) G3 (Global Rank)

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