Rhexia virginica, the handsome Harry or Virginia meadow-beauty, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae. It is native to much of eastern North America, and is often found in moist, often acidic soils in open areas.http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/meadow_beauty.htm Rhexia virginica at Illinois Wildflowers
Description This species is a perennial herb that is easily identified by its distinctly angled stems. It produces purple-pink flowers in the summer that use buzz pollination for reproduction. The pollination ecology of buzz-pollinated Rhexia virginica (Melastomataceae) Am. J. Bot. April 1999 vol. 86 no. 4 502-511
The leaves of R. virginica are oppositely arranged, and may be elliptic or ovate in shape. They may reach a length of 7 centimeters (approximately 2.75 inches) and a width of 2.6 centimeters (approximately 1 inch). Stems may reach up to 9 decimeters (approximately 35 inches) in height.Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. 1964, 1968. The University of North Carolina Press. 743. Print.
Distribution and habitat R. virginica has been found in eastern US from Florida to Maine, and north to Ontario and Nova Scotia.see chart shown. Edwards, A. L. and A. S. Weakley 2001. "Population biology and management of rare plants in depression wetlands of the southeastern coastal plain, USA". Natural Areas Journal 21: 12-35.
It has been observed in habitat types such as savannas, flatwoods, and wet ditches.Nelson, Gil. Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers: A Field Guide to the Wildflowers of the Coastal Regions of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Northeastern Florida. Guilford, CT: FalconGuide, 2006. 95. Print.
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