Chelone obliqua
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Lamiales - Chelone obliqua - 1.jpg
|image_caption =
|genus = Chelone
|species = obliqua
|authority = L.
|range_map = C obliqua USDA.png
|range_map_caption = Distribution of Chelone obliqua
}}
Chelone obliqua, the red turtlehead, rose turtlehead or pink turtlehead, is a perennial flowering plant belonging to the family Plantaginaceae. This uncommon wildflower is endemic to the United States, where it is found in the Midwestern and southeastern states.{{cite web |url=https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=CHOB3 |website=United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service|access-date=3 November 2022|title=Chelone obliqua L.}}
The three common names come from the bloom colors, yet they may even appear in other colors such as purple or white.{{cite web |website=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center|title=Chelone obliqua |publisher=The University of Texas at Austin|date=7 December 2012|access-date=3 November 2022|url=http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CHOB3}} When blooming, the flower is said to resemble the head of a turtle.{{cite web |title=Chelone obliqua|website=Missouri Botanical Garden |url=http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/c100/chelone-obliqua.aspx|access-date=3 November 2022}}
Description
Chelone obliqua is an herbaceous perennial plant that grows to a height of {{convert|2|to|3|feet|cm}} and can spread out {{convert|1|to|2|feet|cm}}.
The central stem is light green, smooth and hairless, and cylindrical; there are pairs of opposite leaves along the sides that tend to droop. Its leaf blades are lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, hairless, and serrated along their margins. The upper blade exhibits a dark green surface, while the lower blade surface is a paler green. A petiole arises from the base of each leaf blade.{{cite web |last=Hilty|first=John|date=5 November 2019|title=Pink Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua speciosa|website=Illinois Wild Flowers |url=http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/pink_turtlehead.htm|access-date=3 November 2022}}
C. obliqua blooms later than some herbaceous perennials, in mid to late summer. The flowers are tubular 2-lipped blooms, with a small yellow beard inside each lower lip.{{cite web |title=Turtlehead Chelone obliqua|website=FineGardening |access-date=3 November 2022|url=http://www.finegardening.com/plantguide/chelone-obliqua-turtlehead.aspx}} There is no floral scent and the flowers are cross pollinated by bees and attractive to butterflies.{{cite web |title=Chelone obliqua|access-date=3 November 2022|year=2022 |url=http://www.perennials.com/plants/chelone-obliqua.html|website=Perennials.com}}
An ovoid seed capsule evolves subsequent to the corollas of the flowers turning brown and falling off. The seeds' capsules are initially light green and uncovered (no coating), and later turn brown and split open to release the seeds. It is rhizomatous with occasional vegetative colony growth.
{{Gallery
|Chelone obliqua A.jpg|Flower
|C. obliqua.jpg|Purple corolla
|Chelone obliqua 02.jpg|Flower
}}
=Varieties=
Varieties include:
- Chelone obliqua var. erwiniae — Erwin's red turtlehead, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina.{{cite web|url=http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=CHOBE |website=United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service|title=Chelone obliqua L. var. erwiniae Pennell & Wherry|access-date=3 November 2022}}
- Chelone obliqua var. obliqua — red turtlehead, the Southeast.{{cite web|url=http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=CHOBO |website=United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service |title=Chelone obliqua L. var. obliqua|access-date=3 November 2022}}
- Chelone obliqua var. speciosa — red turtlehead, the Midwest.{{cite web|url=http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=CHOBS |website=United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service |title=Chelone obliqua L. var. speciosa Pennell & Wherry|access-date=3 November 2022}}
Distribution
Chelone obliqua is native to various states in the eastern and central parts of the country, including: Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.{{cite web |url=http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Chelone%20obliqua.png |author=Biota of North America Program |date=14 December 2014 |title=Floristic Synthesis of North America: Chelone obliqua|access-date=3 November 2022}}{{cite book |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/13847#page/1/mode/1up |last=Small |first=John Kunkel|access-date=3 November 2022 |year=1933 |title=Manual of the Southeastern Flora |publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill}}Godfrey, Robert K. & Jean W. Wooten (1981). Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States: Dicotyledons. Athens: University of Georgia Press. {{isbn|0-8203-0532-4}}.
It is found as tetraploid in the Blue Ridge Mountains; or as hexaploid in areas ranging from Tennessee to Arkansas and Michigan, and on the Atlantic coastal plain from South Carolina to Maryland.{{Cite journal |title=Polyploid evolution and biogeography in Chelone (Scrophulariaceae): morphological and isozyme evidence |author=Allan D. Nelson and Wayne J. Elisens |journal=American Journal of Botany |year=1999 |volume=86 |pages=1487–1501 |doi=10.2307/2656929 |jstor=2656929 |issue=10 |publisher=Botanical Society of America |pmid=10523288 |doi-access=free}} It has arisen several times from diploid ancestors of the other three species of the genus Chelone (Chelone glabra, Chelone lyonii and Chelone cuthbertii).
Conservation
The plant has become a rare wildflower and is threatened and endangered in some states, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.{{cite web |url=https://adminplants.sc.egov.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CHOB3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103234709/https://adminplants.sc.egov.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CHOB3|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 3, 2022|access-date=3 November 2022|title=PLANTS Profile: Chelone obliqua L.|website=United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service}} Populations of the red turtlehead are threatened in Maryland, Missouri and North Carolina.{{cite web |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.161524/Chelone_obliqua |date=1 October 2022|access-date=3 November 2022|title=Chelone obliqua |website=NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer|author=NatureServe|publisher=NatureServe Explorer|location=Arlington, Virginia}} The red turtlehead is critically imperiled in Michigan, Iowa, Tennessee and Alabama. It is possibly extirpated in Georgia and Mississippi. Introduced non-native populations exist in Massachusetts. The variety obliqua is endangered in Kentucky{{cite web |title=Native Spotlight: Chelone|publisher=Kentucky Native Plant Society|website=The Lady Slipper Volume 37|year=2022|url=https://www.knps.org/native-spotlight-chelone/|last=Dunlap|first=Robert|access-date=3 November 2022}} and threatened in Maryland,{{cite web |website=Maryland Biodiversity Project|title=Red Turtlehead|url=https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/view/2764|access-date=3 November 2022}} while the speciosa variety is endangered in Arkansas and of special concern in Kentucky.
Cultivation
Chelone obliqua is cultivated as an ornamental plant. Optimal bloom period is within the months of July and August.
Dispersal of seeds can occur in the early spring, then divide in mid-spring and produce root soft-tip cuttings in the early summer. It is best grown in moist to wet, rich, humusy soils in full sun to partly shaded regions. C. obliqua is tolerant of clay soil, and may benefit from leaf mulch in total sunlight to prevent it from drying out. It can grow in any pH condition (neutral, alkaline, or acidic). Hence, it is mainly grown in moist woods, swampy areas and along streams.
Some problems that may arise include a disposition to powdery mildew, rust, fungal leaf spots, and damage from slugs and snails.
Etymology
Chelone is derived from Greek meaning 'turtle-like', in reference to its turtle head-shaped corollas.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9780521866453}} (hardback), {{ISBN|9780521685535}} (paperback). pp 103, 276
Obliqua means 'slanting', 'having unequal sides', or 'oblique'.