Perennial honesty

About

Perennial honesty is a plant of shady, moist forests. In Ukraine, it mainly grows in the Carpathians and Transcarpathia, as well as in Roztochia, Opillia, Pokuttia, Ternopil region, and the west of Podillia. It prefers damp shady forests, often on calcareous soil.

This perennial herb grows 30–150 cm tall with a creeping rhizome. The leaves are large, dark green, heart-shaped, with uneven sharp teeth, and the lower ones have long petioles. It blooms from April to July: at the tops of the stems, clusters of light lilac four-petaled flowers with a strong aroma reminiscent of lilac open up. The fragrance attracts bees and butterflies. The fruits ripen from August to October: these are flat elliptical pods with a translucent silvery cross-section that glow in the forest twilight like small moons. This is how the plant got its name. Perennial honesty is a good honey plant, and as an ornamental plant, it is also grown in gardens, from where the garden material, not the wild one, is used in bouquets.

The species name rediviva means 'reviving': each year, perennial honesty regrows from the rhizome. However, it is not common in nature, so the species is listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine with the status of 'not evaluated'. It is protected in the reserves of Gorgany and the Carpathian Biosphere, in the national parks of Synevyr, Skole Beskids, Uzhansky, Vyzhnytsia, Carpathian, and others.

It is prohibited to pick perennial honesty, collect its dry fruits for bouquets, and dig up the plants. In autumn, the silvery 'moons' are especially beautiful in photos—take pictures of them without breaking the stems.

Where in the Carpathians

The map shows where naturalists recorded the species (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY records), not every place it lives. The Ukrainian Carpathians are less studied, so a blank area does not mean the species is absent.

Countries

Slovakia · Czechia · Ukraine · Poland · Romania · Hungary

Mountain ranges

Slovak Ore Mountains, Moravian-Silesian Beskids, Lesser Fatra, Greater Fatra, Strážov Mountains, Low Tatras, Bieszczady, Vihorlat Mountains, Belianske Tatras, Skole Beskids

Altitude belts

Foothills (below 600 m) · Beech forests (600–1200 m)

When to see it

From naturalists’ observations in the Carpathians (iNaturalist, research grade): the darker the cell, the more often the species is seen that month.

Look-alikes — how to tell them apart

Protection and rules

Listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine (not evaluated). It is prohibited to pick, collect fruits for bouquets, and dig up.

Admire, don’t pick: plants listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine — and any plants in nature reserves and strictly protected zones of national parks — must not be collected.

Red Data Book of Ukraine

FAQ