PLANT PROFILE

Rhexia mariana
Maryland meadow-beauty



Rhexia mariana
Rhexia mariana
Photo Courtesy Renee Brecht
Britton & Brown
Botanical name: Rhexia mariana
Common name: Maryland meadow-beauty
Group: dicot
Family: Melastomataceae
Growth type: forb/herb
Duration: perennial
Origin: native
Plant height: 2.5'
Foliage: stems often have four sides, flat, concave or convex and usually has glandular hairs.leaf arrangement is opposite. Leaves can reach 3 inches in length; fine sharp teeth, linear, lanceolate or oblong.
Flower: 1 - 2" across; 4 petals, pink to lavender or occasionally white flowers. Fruit is a distinctive seed capsule shaped like a small jug with four points
Flowering time: July - September
Habitat: Open areas, moist at least in the spring. Often on disturbed sites.
Range in New Jersey: Common in moist sandy ground throughout the Pine Barrens, Cape May peninsula, and western part of the Middle district, occasional on the coast.
Heritage ranking, if any: n/a
Distribution:
Misc. USDA lists as an obligate wetland species, i.e., Occurs almost always (estimated probability 99%) under natural conditions in wetlands.

Rhexia, From the Greek rhexio, (rupture); referring to the belief the plant had curative benefits for ruptures; mariana, of Mary (Maryland?).