VENUS'S LOOKING GLASS, a popular garden name for Specularia Speculum (or Campanula Speculum), from the old Latin name for the plant, Speculum Veneris. It is a common cornfield plant in the south of Europe, and is grown in gardens on account of its brilliant purple flowers. In North America four
native species occur, of which the American Venus's looking glass or clasping bell-flower (S. perfoliata) and the small Venus's looking glass (S. biflora) are found across the continent, the latter extending to South America.