[Bluebells and Lungworts: The Genus Mertensia East of the Cascade
Mts. of Oregon and Washington]
Toiyabe Bluebells
Mertensia cusickii
Synonym: Mertensia viridis
Mertensia cusickii from Ochoco Forest Camp, Ochoco National Forest..........April 29, 2016. The loose hairs of the calyx and leaves are somewhat visible above.
Characteristics:
Toiyabe bluebells are an attractive perennial wildflower with
several to many erect stems clustered atop a branching base from 20-50 cm high.
The stems are noticeably covered with short, spreading hairs or spreading but
downward pointed hairs. The bulk of the leaves are found on the stems. The lowermost
leaves are scale-like but the leaves of midstem are petiolate and the largest,
the blade measuring 4-14 cm long and and 1-3 cm wide. The leaves are evidently
short-hairy on both leaf surfaces with the hairs spreading or appressed towards
the margins.
The inflorescence is ranges from congested to branched and open.
The pedicels are loosely covered with short hairs. The calyx is 3-6 mm long
and the lobes are cleft nearly to the base and covered with loose hairs. The
corolla tube is 5-8 mm long and contains a ring of hairs within the tube. The
tube is 1-1.5 times longer than the limb. The style is 9-12 mm long and about
equal in length to slightly longer than the corolla.
Habitat:
Toiyabe bluebells may be found from riparian areas to dry drainage-bottoms
and wooded slopes or dry meadows from the foothills to middle elevations in
the mountains.
Range:
Toiyabe bluebells may be found from central Oregon (the Ochoco
Mts.) and southeastern Oregon (the Steens Mt.) east to southwestern Idaho (Owyhee
County) and central Nevada (Toiyabe Mts.).
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Toiyabe bluebells as seen near the junction of FS Roads 42 and 3010 along the North Fork Crooked River in southeastern Big Summit Prairie, Ochoco National Forest........April 29 and 30, 2016. Note the evidently hairy leaves. The similar leafy lungwort (Mertensia oblongifolia) has glabrous or glaucous foliage.
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Toiyabe bluebells as seen in Ochoco Campground, Ochoco National Forest.........May 10, 2017. Note the ciliate leaf and calyx margins and the spreading hairs on the inside of the corolla tube which is about equal to or slightly longer than the corolla limb.
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Toiyabe bluebells as seen in Ochoco Campground, Ochoco National Forest.........May 10, 2017.
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Toiyabe bluebells observed along the Fremont National Recreation Trail #160 on the northeastern slopes of Crook Peak, Fremont-Winema National Forest......June 28, 2019.
Toiyabe bluebells at Ochoco Forest Camp, Ochoco National Forest..........May 10, 2018.
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Mertensia cusickii as seen left from along
the North Fork of the Crooked River, Big Summit Prairie, Ochoco NF..........May
23, 1998. The loose hairs of the calyx and leaves are somewhat visible above. The photo at right shows Toiyabe bluebells in moist prairie at the eastern edge of Big Summit Prairie near the old Cold Springs Guard Station, Ochoco National Forest.........May 10, 2017.
Paul Slichter