By Robert Dunlap
We have several native plants in Kentucky named after reptiles, snakeroot, lizard’s tail, adder’s tongue fern, and three rattlesnakes, master, plantain, and root. We also have green dragon and snapdragon, but they don’t really count because, well, you know…. the one named after a turtle is appropriately named turtlehead.
Kentucky’s two turtleheads are distinguished by flower color, white and red. White turtlehead (Chelone glabra) has been observed in 38 of our 120 counties across the state but is mostly absent west of the Land Between the Lakes. Red turtlehead, also called Pink or Rose, (Chelone obliqua var. speciosa) fills the void in western Kentucky and is also found in a few counties towards the center of the state (10 total). A rare third variety of Red turtlehead (classified as endangered) grows in three southeastern counties (Chelone obliqua var. obliqua). Another pink variety that is commercially available is Lyon’s turtlehead (Chelone lyonii), but it is not native to Kentucky.
Description and growing conditions
As the name implies, turtleheads possess flowers that resemble the head of a turtle. They grow two to three feet tall with opposite, lanceolate leaves sporting serrated edges that can reach a length of six inches. The one to one a half inch flowers are borne on a dense terminal spike in late summer to early fall and persist for about a month.
Turtleheads grow in wetlands and enjoy keeping their feet wet and their tops in full sun or partial shade. They aren’t picky about pH and can tolerate both acid and basic soils if organic matter is present. The flowers are visited by hummingbirds and pollinated by bumble bees which appreciate having a late season food source available before entering diapause for the winter. Deer generally avoid the plants due to their bitter leaves but some amount of browsing can occur where deer populations are high. I sacrificed a leaf from one of my seedlings (see below) to verify the bitter leaf theory and can attest that it is true. That being said, the dried leaves are used to make tea, and they are also incorporated into an ointment.
Red turtlehead is listed as a species of special concern by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. To gauge its rarity, consider that there are only seven observations of red turtlehead in Kentucky on iNaturalist. Compare that with 1,224 may apples, 1,110 spring beauties and 1,086 blue phloxes.
I was fortunate to find several Red turtlehead plants last fall in McCracken County. I collected seeds in November, sowed half of them immediately and the remainder stayed in my garage until March. The germination rate for both batches was very high – probably 75 percent. There were no problems with damping off or other fungal issues and I’m looking forward to finding homes for about 60 seedlings this fall.
Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly
The white turtlehead (not the red) is the host plant for the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly, which has been the state insect of Maryland since 1973. It was named for George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore who helped found the colony of Maryland. Its wing spot colors and patterns resemble those on the Calvert family crest. Unfortunately, it has experienced a significant population decline and is currently listed as rare in the state. In 2012, the Baltimore Checkerspot Recovery Team of Maryland formed to develop and implement plans to reverse this trend, which includes increasing the white turtlehead population in the state. Details of their plan including an excellent section on turtlehead propagation can be found at Conservation and Management of the Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton) in the Maryland Piedmont: Strategies for Wetland Restoration, Captive Breeding and Release
It is also rare in Kentucky having been reported from only 18 counties. There is only one iNaturalist observation of this butterfly in Kentucky, from Henry County. While the odds are high that you’ve never seen a Baltimore checkerspot in the wild, it’s possible you’ve seen one in your mailbox. The US Postal Service issued two stamps with the image of this butterfly: a 13-cent stamp in 1977 and a 65-cent stamp in 2012.
So how did the state butterfly of Maryland make it onto two stamps whereas Kentucky’s state butterfly, the viceroy, has yet to grace an envelope in the United States? I’m guessing the fact that the Maryland border is about four miles from the United States Postal System Headquarters in downtown DC has something to do with it. Of course, everyone would mistake our viceroy with a monarch anyway, so maybe we will never see our butterfly on a stamp!
So why should you add turtlehead to your native plant garden? This hardy, easy-to-grow perennial with distinctive flowers will lend color to your garden late into the fall. Bumble bees and hummingbirds will thank you for giving them a late season nectar source after many of our other native plants have gone to seed. Finally, we all know how we are all encouraged to plant milkweed to help the monarch butterfly. The fact is there are many other insects that need our help. So, plant turtlehead in your garden and maybe you will be lucky enough to see a checkerspot butterfly in real life instead of just on a postage stamp!
Robert Dunlap is an amateur naturalist living near Paducah who owns every Peterson Field Guide that was ever published.