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Bartonia virginica
Also called Virginia Bartonia, Late Flowering Bartonia, Yellow Bartonia
Yellow screwstem is a small annual wildflower of wet bogs, wet meadows and swales in eastern North America, grown mainly as a native wild plant rather than a garden subject. It is a partial mycoheterotroph that depends on underground fungal partners, so it is hard to cultivate.
Bartonia virginica, also called yellow screwstem or yellow bartonia, is a species of a flowering plant in Gentianaceae. Native to much of eastern North America, B. virginica grows in wetland habitats, especially bogs, wet meadows, and swales. It is an annual species with small pale green to yellow flowers, scale-like leaves, and reduced, hairless roots. Unlike most other species in the gentian family, B. virginica relies on underground fungal partners for many of its nutrients, a strategy known as partial mycoheterotrophy. While it is rare and threatened in some parts of its range, B. virginica is considered a globally secure species.
Bartonia virginica is native to eastern North America, including all states and provinces to the east of the Mississippi River as well as Minnesota, Missouri, and Louisiana. In 2024, a small population was also discovered in Tyler County, Texas. Its distribution is centered around the Atlantic coastal plain, with scattered inland populations, at elevations from 0–500 m. B. virginica grows in sphagnum bogs and wet meadows, where it is found in acid bogs with sphagnum or Polytrichum mosses. In the southeastern parts of its range, B. virginica also grows in pocosins and dune swale wetlands.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Bartonia virginica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
