Features: The Bluehearts (Buchnera americana) is a tall (about 75 cm) bristly member of the Figwort Family that grows in wet meadows, especially along the edges of wet depressions between sand dunes. In late summer it produces large, deep-purple flowers, borne on tall, erect spikes. Bluehearts is sometimes hemiparasitic on the roots of tree species such as White Pine (Pinus strobus) and White Oak (Quercus alba), and diverts some of the tree's nutrients into its own growth and reproduction. This plant is a perennial in more southerly parts of its range but probably depends upon seed production for its persistence in Ontario.

Status: Endangered Provincially and Nationally

Range: The range of Bluehearts extends from southwestern Ontario through the eastern and central United States. It has declined throughout this range and is now absent from many states in which it formerly occurred. Its primary United States range is centred in the Ozarks and the Appalachian foothills. In Canada, the Bluehearts grows only in southwestern Ontario, along about a 10 km section of the Lake Huron shoreline. Range Maps

Threats: The Bluehearts is a species of successional habitats and requires fluctuating water levels to maintain open, wet meadow habitats. In Ontario, most of this species' interdunal habitats have been lost due to shoreline development. Populations are also threatened by trampling, and disturbance by off-road vehicles.

Protection: The Bluehearts is listed as endangered and receives protection under Ontario's Endangered Species Act, 2007. Only a few stands of Bluehearts occur on public lands, and, owing to high levels of human use, even some of these have been disturbed. The Natural Heritage component of the Provincial Policy Statement under Ontario's Planning Act provides for the protection of significant portions of the habitat of threatened species.

Text Sources: Brownell 1983; Brownell 1997

Last Modified Date: October 2008