Specimen record
White Turtlehead
Chelone glabra
Description
A wetland wildflower with flowers that resemble a turtle's head with its mouth open. The white to pale pink bilaterally symmetric flowers are tightly clustered in a short terminal spike. Turtlehead is the exclusive larval host plant for the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly. It grows along stream banks and in wet meadows in late summer.
Identification tips
- 1White to pale pink flowers shaped like a turtle's head with the mouth slightly open
- 2Flowers in a tight terminal cluster (short dense spike)
- 3Opposite, lance-shaped, sharply serrated dark green leaves
- 4Stems smooth (glabrous), erect, unbranched, 60–100 cm tall
- 5Exclusively in wet habitats — stream margins, seeps, wet meadows
Specimen & preservation notes
Press a stem with the terminal flower cluster. Slice one or two flowers lengthwise to show the interior structure, which is useful for identification. The white color is preserved well in pressing. Include a pair of opposite leaves with the serrated margin visible.
Habitats
Collection calendar
| Wk | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||||
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| 4 |
Collection notes
Season check
Guide window matches observed bloom.
Flowering records: 159 iNaturalist observations, Massachusetts · Nearby: 175 observations within 25 km