Campanula
Encyclopedia
For the main belt asteroid, see 1077 Campanula
1077 Campanula
1077 Campanula is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. Initially it received the designation 1926 TK. The numerical designation indicates this was the 1077th asteroid discovered.-External links:*...

. The hydrozoa
Hydrozoa
Hydrozoa are a taxonomic class of very small, predatory animals which can be solitary or colonial and which mostly live in saltwater. A few genera within this class live in freshwater...

n genus
Campanula is usually included in Campanularia today.

Campanula k is one of several genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

  in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Campanulaceae
Campanulaceae
The family Campanulaceae , of the order Asterales, contains about 2000 species in 70 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky non-toxic sap...

 with the common name bellflower. It takes its name from their bell-shaped flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s—campanula is Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 for "little bell".

The genus includes over 500 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 and several subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

, distributed across the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...

, with the highest diversity in the Mediterranean region east to the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

.

The species include annual
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

, biennial
Biennial plant
A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...

 and perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 plants, and vary in habit from dwarf arctic and alpine species under 5 cm high, to large temperate grassland and woodland species growing to 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall.

Description

The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 are alternate and often vary in shape on a single plant, with larger, broader leaves at the base of the stem and smaller, narrower leaves higher up; the leaf margin may be either entire or serrated (sometimes both on the same plant). Many species contain white latex
Latex
Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...

 in the leaves and stems.

The flowers are produced in panicles (sometimes solitary), and have a five-lobed corolla, typically large (2–5 cm or more long), mostly blue to purple, sometimes white or pink. Below the corolla, 5 leaf-like sepals form the calyx. Some species have a small additional leaf-like growth termed an "appendage" between each sepal, and the presence or absence, relative size, and attitude of the appendage is often used to distinguish between closely related species.

The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 is a capsule
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...

 containing numerous small seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s.

Campanula species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species including Common Pug
Common Pug
The Common Pug is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a common species across the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa....

 (recorded on Harebell), Dot Moth
Dot Moth
The Dot Moth is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe apart from the south-east.This is a very distinctive species with very dark brown, almost black, forewings marked with a large white stigma from which the species gets its common name. The hindwings are grey with a dark...

, Ingrailed Clay
Ingrailed Clay
The Ingrailed Clay is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed through most of Europe.This species occurs in a huge range of colour types and is one of the most variable species in the family...

 (recorded on Harebell), Lime-speck Pug
Lime-speck Pug
The Lime-speck Pug is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a common species throughout the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa....

 and Mouse Moth
Mouse Moth
The Mouse Moth is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a very widespread species with a Holarctic distribution.This is a rather drab but distinctive species. The forewings are uniform dark brown with three blackish spots arranged in a triangle. The hindwings are buffish, darker towards the...

.

Cultivation and uses

Well-known species include the northern temperate Campanula rotundifolia, commonly known as Harebell in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Bluebell in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and the southern European Campanula medium, commonly known as Canterbury Bells, which is a garden plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...

 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. As well as several species occurring naturally in the wild in northern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, there are many cultivated garden species.

The species Campanula rapunculus
Campanula rapunculus
Campanula rapunculus, common name Rampion Bellflower, Rampion, or Rover Bellflower, is a species of bellflower in the family Campanulaceae....

, commonly known as Rampion Bellflower, Rampion, or Rover Bellflower, is a biennial vegetable which was once widely grown in Europe for its leaves, which were used like spinach, and its parsnip-like root, which was used like a radish. The Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...

's tale Rapunzel
Rapunzel
"Rapunzel" is a German fairy tale in the collection assembled by the Brothers Grimm, and first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. The Grimm Brothers' story is an adaptation of the fairy tale Persinette by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force originally published in 1698...

 took its name from this plant.

In the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 the National Collection
NCCPG National Plant Collection
The NCCPG National Plant Collection scheme is the main conservation vehicle whereby the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens can accomplish its mission: to conserve, grow, propagate, document and make available the resource of garden plants that exists in the United...

 of Campanulas is held at Burton Agnes Hall
Burton Agnes Hall
Burton Agnes Hall is an Elizabethan manor house in the village of Burton Agnes, near Driffield in Yorkshire. It was built by Sir Henry Griffith in 1601–10 to designs attributed to Robert Smythson...

 in East Yorkshire and the National Collection of Alpine Campanulas at Langham Hall in Suffolk.

Species

There are 473, including:
  • Campanula alliariifolia
    Campanula alliariifolia
    Campanula alliariifolia is a species of bellflower. It is native to the Caucasus and Turkey and it is grown as an ornamental plant. Common names include Cornish bellflower....


    Cornish bellflower
  • Campanula alpina
    Campanula alpina
    Campanula alpina is a species of perennial bellflower found in the Eastern Alps, Carpathian Mountains and the Balkans. It comprises two subspecies: subsp. alpina found in the Eastern Alps and Carpathians, and subsp. orbelica found in the Balkans....

  • Campanula americana
    American bellflower
  • Campanula angustiflora
    Campanula angustiflora
    Campanula angustiflora is a species of bellflower known by the common name Eastwood's bellflower. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the serpentine soils of the hills and mountains surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a flower of the chaparral plant community. This is a hairy...


    Eastwood's bellflower
  • Campanula californica
    Campanula californica
    Campanula californica is a species of bellflower known by the common names swamp bellflower and swamp harebell. It is endemic to California, where it grows along the coastline between Marin and Mendocino Counties. It is found mainly in wet areas such as bogs, marshes, and wet forest floors...


    swamp harebell
  • Campanula carpatica
    Carpathian bellflower
  • Campanula cervicaria
    Campanula cervicaria
    Bristly Bellflower is a species of bellflower in the family Campanulaceae. The flowers are about 1–2 cm long, light blue and are grouped together....


    bristly bellflower
  • Campanula exigua
    Campanula exigua
    The annual flower of the bluebell family Campanula exigua has several common names, including chaparral bellflower, rock harebell, and Rattan campanula. It is a rare plant endemic to California and is found in a few isolated spots around Mount Diablo State Park in the east Bay Area...


    chaparral bellflower
  • Campanula gelida
    Campanula gelida
    Campanula gelida is a stenoendemic, critically endangered species of perennial bellflower growing in the mountains of Hrubý Jeseník in the Czech Republic. It evolved through specialization of an isolated population of Campanula scheuchzeri, an Alpine species, which expanded to the area of the...

  • Campanula glomerata
    clustered bellflower
  • Campanula griffinii
    Campanula griffinii
    Campanula griffinii is a species of bellflower known by the common name Griffin's bellflower. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the North and Central Coast Ranges in chaparral habitat on serpentine soils. This is an annual herb producing a thin, erect stem up to 20 centimeters tall...


    Griffin's bellflower
  • Campanula isophylla
    Campanula isophylla
    Campanula isophylla is a species of plant. The common names of the species include Italian Bellflower, Star of Bethlehem, Falling Stars and Trailing Campanula, among others.-Description:...


    Italian bellflower
  • Campanula latifolia
    wide-leaved bellflower
  • Campanula medium
    Canterbury bells
  • Campanula patula
    Campanula patula
    Campanula patula or Spreading Bellflower is a plant species of the genus Campanula. It can be more than half a meter high.This delicate bellflower bears lateral branches of pale blue or white flowers that are upright and funnel shaped....


    spreading bellflower

    • Campanula persicifolia
      Campanula persicifolia
      Campanula persicifolia or Peach-leaved Bellflower is a plant species of the genus Campanula. It can be almost one meter high. Its flowers are cup-shaped and can be either lilac-blue or white. Its foliage is narrow and glossy with a bright green appearance.It is common in the Alps and other...


      peach-leaved bellflower
    • Campanula piperi
      Campanula piperi
      Campanula piperi is a perennial flowering plant in the bellflower family endemic to cracks and crevices of high elevation rock outcrops in Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington.-Description:Stems grow in a cluster, with leaves growing out all the way to the top...


      Piper's bellflower
    • Campanula portenschlagiana
      Campanula portenschlagiana
      Campanula portenschlagiana is an evergreen perennial native to the Dalmatian Mountains in Croatia.-Description:The plant is about 10 cm high. It grows in the sun or half shade...


      Dalmatian or wall bellflower
    • Campanula poscharskyana
      Campanula poscharskyana
      Campanula poscharskyana, the Serbian Bellflower, is a semi-evergreen trailing perennial, valued for its lavender-blue star-shaped flowers, native to the Dinaric Alps in former Yugoslavia....


      Serbian bellflower
    • Campanula primulifolia
      Campanula primulifolia
      Campanula primulifolia is a plant species of the genus Campanula....


      Spanish bellflower
    • Campanula pyramidalis
      Campanula pyramidalis
      Campanula pyramidalis is a species of Campanula, native to southeastern Europe in Italy and the western Balkans....


      chimney bellflower
    • Campanula rapunculoides
      Campanula rapunculoides
      Campanula rapunculoides, common names Creeping Bellflower or Rampion Bellflower, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Campanula, belonging to the family Campanulaceae.-Etymology:...


      creeping bellflower
  • Campanula rapunculus
    Campanula rapunculus
    Campanula rapunculus, common name Rampion Bellflower, Rampion, or Rover Bellflower, is a species of bellflower in the family Campanulaceae....


    rampion bellflower
  • Campanula rotundifolia
    harebell, bluebell
  • Campanula scabrella
    Campanula scabrella
    Campanula scabrella is a species of bellflower known by the common name rough bellflower. It is native to the mountains of the western United States, where it grows in talus and other rocky alpine habitat. This is a tough perennial herb growing in a clump from a woody rhizome and rarely exceeding 5...


    rough bellflower
  • Campanula scouleri
    Campanula scouleri
    Campanula scouleri is a species of bellflower known by the common names pale bellflower and Scouler's harebell. It is native to the mountains of western North America from northern California to Alaska. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing an erect or leaning stem 20 to 30 centimeters long...


    Scouler's or pale bellflower
  • Campanula sharsmithiae
    Campanula sharsmithiae
    Campanula sharsmithiae is a rare species of bellflower known by the common names Mt. Hamilton bellflower and Sharsmith's harebell. It is endemic to California, where it is known from just a few occurrences in the higher mountain peaks just south of the San Francisco Bay Area, including Mt. Hamilton...


    Sharsmith's or Mt. Hamilton bellflower
  • Campanula shetleri
    Campanula shetleri
    Campanula shetleri is a rare species of bellflower known by the common name Castle Crags bellflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known from fewer than ten occurrences in the southern reaches of the Cascade Range near the border between Siskiyou and Shasta Counties. It is a plant of the...


    Castle Crags bellflower
  • Campanula takesimana
    Korean bellflower
  • Campanula trachelium
    Campanula trachelium
    Campanula trachelium or Nettle-leaved Bellflower is a species of bellflower found in North America and Germany.Campanula trachelium is a Eurasian blue wildflower native to Denmark and England and now naturalized in southeast Ireland...


    nettle-leaved bellflower
  • Campanula uniflora
    Campanula uniflora
    The arctic bellflower is a short and slender rhizomatous perennial in the bellflower family Campanulaceae. It is distributed in arctic North America, including the Rocky Mountains and Greenland, in the Asian part of Beringia and in Iceland, Svalbard, the Scandes Mountains and Novaja Zemlja.The...


    arctic bellflower
  • Campanula wilkinsiana
    Campanula wilkinsiana
    Campanula wilkinsiana is a rare species of bellflower known by the common name Wilkins' bellflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known fewer than twenty scattered occurrences in the Klamath Mountains and Cascade Range, and possibly the northern peaks of the High Sierra. It grows in...


    Wilkin's bellflower

  • Formerly placed here

    • Adenophora gmelinii (Spreng.) Fisch. (as C. coronopifolia Schult. or C. gmelinii Spreng.)
    • Adenophora khasiana (Hook.f. & Thomson) Collett & Hemsl. (as C. khasiana Hook.f. & Thomson)
    • Adenophora liliifolia (L.) Besser (as C. liliifolia L.)
    • Adenophora triphylla (Thunb.) A.DC. (as C. tetraphylla Thunb. or C. triphylla Thunb.)
    • Azorina vidalii
      Azorina
      Azorina is a plant genus within the family Campanulaceae. The sole species, Azorina vidalli, which is native to the Azores, was formerly known as Campanula vidalii.-References:*...

      (H.C.Watson) Feer (as C. vidalii H.C.Watson)
    • Borago pygmaea (DC.) Chater & Greuter (as C. pygmaea DC.)
    • Legousia pentagonia (L.) Druce (as C. pentagonia L.)
    • Platycodon grandiflorus (Jacq.) A.DC. (as C. glauca Thunb. or C. grandiflora Jacq.)
    • Specularia speculum A.DC. (as C. speculum-veneris L.)
    • Triodanis perfoliata
      Triodanis perfoliata
      Triodanis perfoliata, the Clasping Venus's Looking Glass, is an annual herb native to North America. It is a flowering plant belonging to the family Campanulaceae.- Description :...

      (L.) Nieuwl. (as C. perfoliata L.)
    • Wahlenbergia linarioides (Lam.) A.DC. (as C. linarioides Lam.)
    • Wahlenbergia marginata (Thunb.) A.DC. C. gracilis G.Forst. or C. marginata Thunb.)
    • Wahlenbergia undulata (L.f.) A.DC. (as C. undulata L.f.)

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