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]
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
^USDA, NRCS (n.d.).
"Legousia speculum-veneris". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 24 January 2016.