Mertensia virginica (common names Virginia bluebells,[1] Virginia cowslip,[2] lungwort oysterleaf, Roanoke bells) is a spring ephemeral plant in the Boraginaceae (borage) family with bell-shaped sky-blue flowers, native to eastern North America.

Virginia bluebells have rounded (ovate) and gray-green leaves, borne on stems up to 24 in (60 cm) tall.

The leaves are up to 5 in (13 cm) long, smooth (entire) along their margins, petiolate at the bottom of the flower stem, and sessile at the top.

[3] M. virginica is native in the United States from Kansas in the west, to Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia in the south, and to Maine in the northeast.

[5] Virginia bluebells had several uses in traditional Native American medicine, including as a pulmonary aid, tuberculosis treatment, and treatment for whooping cough (Cherokee,) root infusion antidote for treating poison, and root decoction venereal to treat venereal issues (Iroquois.).