Compilation
Nigella damascena

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Name

Identification
Nigella damascena L. [family RANUNCULACEAE ] (stored under name);
Related name
  • Nigella elata
  • Nigella bithynica
  • Nigella damascena

Flora

Entry for Nigella damascena Linnaeus [family RANUNCULACEAE]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 3,
Names
Nigella damascena Linnaeus [family RANUNCULACEAE], Sp. Pl., 1: 534. 1753
Information
Stems erect, slender, 10-75 cm, glabrous. Leaves 2-16 cm; basal leaves petiolate, segments wider than ±sessile cauline leaves. Inflorescences: involucral bracts whorled, similar to cauline leaves, curving up to surround flower. Flowers 10-50(-60) mm diam.; sepals blue, sometimes pink or white, short-clawed, 8-25 × 3-15 mm, apex entire to irregularly incised or lobed, occasionally lacerate; petals clawed, abaxial lip distally 2-lobed, bearing 2-3 nectar glands or apex expanded, adaxial lip scalelike. Capsules smooth, 8-35 mm; locules 5-10; beak persistent, slender.
Phenology
Flowering late spring-early fall
Altitude range
0-400 m
Distribution
native to Eurasia.USA Ill.USA Kans.USA Md.USA Mich.USA Mo.USA N.Y.USA OhioUSA Oreg.USA Pa.USA Tenn.USA W.Va.Canada B.C.Canada Ont.Canada Que.
Discussion
Nigella damascena is frequently cultivated as an ornamental and for dried-flower arrangements. It occasionally escapes cultivation and may become established. Populations in Ontario and Quebec, and probably elsewhere, are short-lived.
Most North American populations of Nigella damascena are represented by a mixture of single- and double-flowered (having supernumerary flower parts) individuals. Sepals tend to be larger and more variable in color than in Eurasian plants. Single-flowered plants usually have petals; petals appear to be absent in double-flowered individuals.
Native/Introduced
introduced

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