Collinsia verna

Stems weak, 2-4 dm, often decumbent below, glabrous below, finely glandular-puberulent above; lower lvs petioled; main lvs sessile, triangular-ovate or oblong- ovate, 2-5 cm; fls mostly in 1-3 whorls of 4-6 fls each, the pedicels 5-20 mm; cal-lobes narrowly triangular, 4-5 mm; cor-tube 3-4 mm; upper lip normally white, varying to pale blue, 6-10 mm; lower lip bright blue, 8-12 mm; cor-lobes emarginate; upper stamens with pubescent filaments; sterile filament 1 mm, fleshy, projecting at right angles from near the base of the cor-tube; seeds usually 4, 2.5-3 mm, the ventral concavity large and conspicuous; 2n=14. Rich moist woods, especially in alluvial soil; N.Y. to Mich. and s. Wis., s. to w. Va., Ky. and Ark. Apr., May.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam

This species is well distributed throughout the state but rather local and usually abundant where it is found. Its preferred habitat is moist, rich soil and it is most often found in alluvial bottoms and on stream terraces, most often associated with sugar maple and white oak. It is much less frequently found in woodland not adjacent to streams.