Virginia Pennywort, Obolaria virginica
2025 March Plant of the Month
Northern Neck Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society
By Betsy Washington

*Tubular flowers Emerge from Leaf Litter in March (K. Howe)*

With the arrival of spring this month, I always look forward to finding one of my favorite early wildflowers, Virginia Pennywort. This herbaceous perennial is a diminutive spring ephemeral that emerges as early as February in the Coastal Plain but is often hidden in the leaf litter and visible only to those with the sharpest eyes. Growing only to 6” high, the distinctive purplish-green foliage tends to blend in with the dark leaf litter on the forest floor. Virginia Pennywort is easily overlooked but is a charming and curious treat for those that stop to admire it.

Virginia Pennywort occurs from NJ and PA south to Florida and Texas and is commonly found throughout most of Virginia in nutrient rich moist to dry forests and thickets, often in base-rich soils. It often appears to have a clumped distribution along trails or paths, with some plants failing to emerge above leaf litter and bloom in any given year.

A member of the Gentian family, Obolaria, is a genus with only one species and derives both its common and Latin names from its small, rounded leaves. The stalkless (sessile) upper leaves are densely held, fleshy and rounded along the outer edge appearing like small coins (Obolos referring to small coins). These upper leaves are only a maximum of ½” long and densely held along an unbranched stem in opposite pairs. The lower leaves, often hidden in the leaf litter, are greatly reduced in size and small and scale-like.

Although a few plants are visible in February, in Northern Neck, Virginia Pennywort begins to bloom in earnest by mid to late March into early May before the overstory trees have fully leafed out and while sunlight can reach the forest floor. Small tubular white to purple tinged flowers are densely packed in groups of three at the top of stout, unbranched stems and in the axils of the upper leaves. Each flower has four white petals fused into a tube that is divided midway into four slightly flaring narrow lobes. The flowers are held in two purple leaf- like basal appendages that have variously been called sepals or bracts by various botanists ever since the mid 1800’s with little agreement on exact terminology even today. Regardless of their exact name, the purple leaf-like bases are the perfect background for the delicate white flowers. Each flower has 4 stamens with anthers that mature before the stigmas encouraging cross pollination. Other Gentians are pollinated by insects including bumblebees, hawkmoths, and even hummingbirds but the pollinators of our Virginia Pennywort are unknown. Another reason to get out in some of our rich woodlands and quietly observe this fascinating little plant.

By May as the canopy closes over, flowers senesce, and small oval seed capsules ripen containing numerous tiny dust-like seeds that are dispersed by wind. The seeds seem far too tiny to contain sufficient food reserves to support the tiny seedlings that may remain under the leaf litter for periods of time. This is a clue that Virginia Pennywort is reliant on mycorrhizal fungi to provide nutrients during their seedling stage.

The roots are equally curious, described by the taxonomist Linnaeus in the 1700’s as ‘coralloid’ meaning irregularly fleshy and thickened, and lacking any root hairs. Instead, they are “infected” with mycorrhizal fungi like many gentian family members that also depend on the mycorrhizal fungi to supply some or all of their nutrients at some point in their life. Their distinctive dark purplish leaves do contain some chlorophyll, and adult plants are able to photosynthesize but only to a limited degree. Studies have shown that Pennyworts sequester more carbon than surrounding plants suggesting they are removing or “stealing” carbon from their neighbors through the fungal network - a great advantage for this tiny ground-hugging plant in the highly competitive environment of the rich springtime forest.

Virginia Pennywort was used by Native Americans as a cough medicine, an agent to induce sweating, and a poultice for treating cuts and bruises. It apparently is resistant to deer browsing whether because of its low stature or repellent properties of the purple foliage.

Virginia Pennywort is certainly one of our most charming and fascinating spring wildflowers. While its curious life history, with its dependence on mycorrhizal fungi, precludes its use as a garden plant, you may be lucky enough to have this enchanting plant growing in your woodlands or you may find it growing along a trail in Hickory Hollow or other rich woodlands. Please stop and bend down for a closer look and reflect on the evolutionary adaptations that have allowed one of our oldest gentians to thrive in our woodlands today. It’s a great time to immerse yourself in the many wonders of nature!

Plant of the Month March 2025: Virginia Pennywort