Buchnera floridana

Buchnera floridana Gandog.

Common Names: Blue Heart

Family: Orobanchaceae

Habit: Buchnera floridana grows as a low growing annual or biennial up to 50 cm in height. Stems slightly pubescent. The sessile leaves are arranged oppositely, to 6 cm long, and linear to elliptic to lanceolate with an obtuse to acute leaf apex.

The complete, perfect, and slightly zygomorphic flowers are in spikes.  Flowers subtended by 3 bracts. The calyx has 5 pubescent, fused sepals. The corolla has 5 fused, pink, blue, or purple, petals of 2 sizes with pubescence at the throat. There are 4 anthers that are fused to the corolla. The carpel has a superior ovary with 2 locules and numerous ovules.  The fruit is an elongate capsule.

Habitat: Buchnera floridana grows in Pine Woodlands, Sabal palmetto Woodlands, edges of wetlands.

Distribution: Buchnera floridana occurs in the central and northern island groupings in the Lucayan Archipelago, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and the southern United States.

Medicinal/Cultural/Economic usage: Buchnera floridana is not known to be used medicinally in the Bahamas.