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Oregon Bluebells - Mertensia bella
State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
DRAFT: Requesting feedback on the 2026 revised rank, factors, and State Rank Reason outlined below and in the Conservation Status Rank Report.
Mertensia bella occurs in Montana at the eastern edge of its range, where it occurs along the Idaho border on the Lolo National Forest. It is known from 3 occurrences that are within 10km of each other. Populations appear to be relatively large, though numbers are imprecisely known and trend are undocumented.
Surveys and monitoring are needed to document population sizes and to determine potential population trends.
General Description
Oregon Bluebells is a perennial herb with solitary stems that arise from a bulb-like root and that are 10-40 cm tall. The ovate leaves are thin, entire-margined, evidently veiny, and 38 cm long. The lowermost leaves are reduced to membranous sheaths, while the others have progressively reduced petioles upwards on the stem. The herbage is mostly glabrous. The blue flowers are stalked and borne in open inflorescences at the top of the stem and in the axils of the upper leaves. The lower two-thirds of the 5 petals are united into a bell-shaped corolla that is 6-10 mm long. The calyx is 2-3 mm long and sparsely hairy.
Phenology
Flowering in late May-June.
Diagnostic Characteristics
The bell-shaped flowers lack a distinctly constricted lower tubular portion separate from a flaring upper portion, distinguishing this species from all other Mertensia in our area.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
Endemic to eastern OR, north ID, adjacent MT, disjunct in western OR. There is one location in Missoula County (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 36
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Wet, seepy, open or partially shaded slopes in the montane and subalpine zones, often in mesic, forb dominated communities or openings in spruce-fir forests.
National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species
Forest and Woodland
Montane - Subalpine Forest and Woodland
Grassland
Montane - Subalpine Grassland
Ecology
POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap:
Bombus vagans,
Bombus bifarius,
Bombus centralis,
Bombus flavifrons,
Bombus frigidus,
Bombus huntii,
Bombus melanopygus,
Bombus mixtus,
Bombus rufocinctus,
Bombus sylvicola,
Bombus occidentalis,
Bombus pensylvanicus,
Bombus bimaculatus,
Bombus griseocollis,
Bombus insularis, and
Bombus kirbiellus (Macior 1974, Bauer 1983, Thorp et al. 1983, Mayer et al. 2000, Colla and Dumesh 2010, Colla et al. 2011, Koch et al. 2012, Pyke et al. 2012, Miller-Struttmann and Galen 2014, Williams et al. 2014).
Stewardship Responsibility
Threats or Limiting Factors
STATE THREAT SCORE REASON
Reported threats to Montana's populations of Oregon Bluebells are currently assigned as unknown (MTNHP Threat Assessment 2021). Mining in the vicinity of a population is indicated, but these impacts are estimated relative to a timeframe exceeding 10 years. Information about expected impacts found in a 10-year timeframe are needed to assess relative contribution to populations threats.
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication- Bauer, P.J. 1983. Bumblebee pollination relationships on the Beartooth Plateau tundra of Southern Montana. American Journal of Botany. 70(1): 134-144.
Colla, S., L. Richardson, and P. Williams. 2011. Bumble bees of the eastern United States. Washington, DC: USDA Forest Service, Pollinator Partnership. 103 p.- Colla, S.R. and S. Dumesh. 2010. The bumble bees of southern Ontario: notes on natural history and distribution. Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 141:39-68.
- Koch, J., J. Strange, and P. Williams. 2012. Bumble bees of the western United States. Washington, DC: USDA Forest Service, Pollinator Partnership. 143 p.
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
- Macior, L.M. 1974. Pollination ecology of the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Melanderia 15: 1-59.
- Mayer, D.F., E.R. Miliczky, B.F. Finnigan, and C.A. Johnson. 2000. The bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of southeastern Washington. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 97: 25-31.
- Miller-Struttmann, N.E. and C. Galen. 2014. High-altitude multi-taskers: bumble bee food plant use broadens along an altitudinal productivity gradient. Oecologia 176:1033-1045.
- MTNHP Threat Assessment. 2021. State Threat Score Assignment and Assessment of Reported Threats from 2006 to 2021 for State-listed Vascular Plants. Botany Program, Montana Natural Heritage Program, Helena, Montana.
- Pyke, G.H., D.W. Inouye, and J.D. Thomson. 2012. Local geographic distributions of bumble bees near Crested Butte, Colorado: competition and community structure revisited. Environmental Entomology 41(6): 1332-1349.
- Thorp, R.W., D.S. Horning, and L.L. Dunning. 1983. Bumble bees and cuckoo bumble bees of California (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 23:1-79.
- Williams, P., R. Thorp, L. Richardson, and S. Colla. 2014. Bumble Bees of North America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 208 p.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
- Lichthardt, J.J. 1992. Report on the conservation status of Mertensia bella (Oregon bluebells) in Idaho. Unpublished report. Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Boise, Idaho 43 pp.
- Lorain, C. C. 1988. Floristic history and distribution of coastal disjunct plants of the northern Rocky Mountains. M.S. thesis. College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Range Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow. 221 pp.
- Roe, L.S. 1991. Status review of Mertensia bella, USDA Forest Service, Region 1, Lolo National Forest, Montana. Unpublished report to the Lolo National Forest. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Helena, MT. 27 pp.
- Williams, L.O. 1937. A monograph of the genus Mertensia in North America. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 14:17-159.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Oregon Bluebells"
