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Helonias bullata
Also called Swamp Pink
Helonias bullata, the swamp pink, is a rare perennial rhizomatous herb native to the eastern United States. The root system is extensive in comparison to the apparent size of the plant on the surface. Blooming in March to May, its fragrant flowers are pink and occur in a cluster at the end a vertical spike which may reach up to 3 ft (0.91 m) in height. It has evergreen, lance-shaped, and parallel-veined leaves ranging from dark green to light yellow green in color that form a basal rosette.
Swamp pink is a federally threatened species that was historically distributed from Staten Island, New York to the southern Appalachians. New Jersey supports the majority of the global population, but there are populations in six other states: Delaware; Maryland; Virginia; West Virginia; North Carolina; South Carolina, and Georgia.
Swamp pink occurs in wetland habitats and it requires habitat which is saturated with water. It is flood tolerant but does not appear capable of adapting to floods of long duration. Ideally the plant prefers an environment where the water table is consistently high and near its root system, but not persistently covering the basal rosette. Typical areas include freshwater wetlands of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, swampy forested wetlands which border small streams; meadows, and spring seepage areas. In the southern Appalachians it occurs in bogs and pocosins.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Helonias bullata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
