Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Sunday - June 16, 2013

From: Orem, UT
Region: Northwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identification of flower similar to bluebell in Washington
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Is there somewhere I can submit a picture to see what kind of flower it is? It looks like a bluebell but more star shaped. Found on the side of the road in Oak Harbor, WA

ANSWER:

To search for possibilities for your flower I went to the database Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest and searched by color—blue. Below are the possibilities I found. You should try the search yourself to see if there might be ones that I missed that could be the flower that you saw.

Brodiaea coronaria (Crown brodiaea) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Campanula piperi (Olympic bellflower) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Campanula scouleri (Bellflower) Here are more photos from CalPhotos-Berkeley.

Dichelostemma capitatum (Bluedicks) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Dichelostemma congestum (Ookow) Here are photos and more information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Gentiana affinis (Pleated gentian) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Gentiana calycosa (Rainier pleated gentian) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Gentiana sceptrum (King's scepter gentian) Here are photos and more information from Washington Native Plant Society.

Gilia sinuata (Shy gilia)

Mertensia ciliata (Mountain bluebells) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Mertensia longiflora (Small bluebells) Here are photos and more information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Mertensia oblongifolia (Oblongleaf bluebells) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Mertensia paniculata (Tall bluebells) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Polemonium californicum (Showy Jacob's ladder)

Polemonium occidentale (Western polemonium) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Polemonium pulcherrimum (Jacob's-ladder) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

Veronica cusickii (Cusick's speedwell) Here are more photos and information from Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest.

If none of these are the flower you saw, please visit our Plant Identification page to find links to several plant identification forums that will accept photos of plants for identification.