#straw lily

Uvularia perfoliata / Perfoliate Bellwort at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

Sessile-leaf bellwort (Uvularia sessilifolia), also referred to as wild oats, straw lily, and little merrybells, is one of the most delicate and fragile of Appalachia’s early spring wildflowers. The plant’s distinctive form reminds me of a ballet dancer’s precise, graceful curtsy. For all its beauty, this lover of rich, damp woods is easy to overlook; it grows low to the ground, and its demure, creamy yellow flower is often obscured by slender, drooping leaves that clasp the branching stem. It’s much larger and more ostentatious cousin, large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora), grows in a similar habitat and at the same time of year.

Uvularia perfoliata / Perfoliate Bellwort at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

Uvularia perfoliata / Perfoliate Bellwort at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC