Uvularia is a small genus of five herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Colchicaceae (order Liliales), closely related to the lily family (Liliaceae). Commonly known as bellworts or merrybells, they are exclusively native to North America, ranging from northern Florida and Texas north to Nova Scotia and Manitoba.
The plants typically grow 45–60 cm (18–24 in) tall, with erect stems that are simple or twice branched. Leaves are alternate, either sessile or perfoliate (with the stem appearing to pass through the leaf blade). In spring — April and May — one or two nodding, bell-shaped flowers hang downward from the tops of the stems, composed of long, narrow tepals in shades of pale to bright yellow. Fruits are three-lobed and greenish to yellowish brown, producing one to three roundish seeds per locule. The plants spread vegetatively by stolons or stoloniferous rhizomes and are typically found on wooded slopes and in ravines.
The five species include the widely grown Uvularia grandiflora (large-flowered bellwort), the common U. sessilifolia (sessile bellwort), U. perfoliata (perfoliate bellwort), U. puberula (mountain bellwort), and U. floridana (Florida bellwort). Bellworts are valued in horticulture as unobtrusive, shade-tolerant plants for woodland and native gardens.
Etymology
The genus name Uvularia derives from the Latin ūvula, meaning "little grape," an allusion to the way the flowers hang downward from the stems. The same Latin root gives the name to the palatine uvula, the fleshy lobe that hangs from the soft palate in the human mouth.
Distribution
All five species of Uvularia are endemic to North America, collectively ranging from northern Florida and Texas to Nova Scotia and Manitoba. They are characteristically plants of shaded, moist woodland habitats — wooded slopes, ravines, and forest understories — across the eastern half of the continent.
Ecology
Uvularia species are spring ephemerals of the forest understory, growing on wooded slopes and in ravines. They spread vegetatively by stolons or stoloniferous rhizomes, forming loose colonies over time. Flowering occurs in April and May, with the nodding bell-shaped flowers likely adapted for pollination by early-season bees.
Cultivation
Bellworts are grown as shade garden and woodland garden perennials, valued for their delicate nodding yellow flowers in early spring and their tolerance of deep shade. They perform best in moist, humus-rich, well-drained soils in partial to full shade, conditions that mimic their native forest-floor habitat. Uvularia grandiflora is the species most commonly cultivated.
