Campanula () is the type genus of the Campanulaceae family of flowering plants. Campanula are commonly known as bellflowers and take both their common and scientific names from the bell-shaped flowers—campanula is Latin for "little bell".

The genus includes over 500 species and several subspecies, distributed across the temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with centers of diversity in the Mediterranean region, Balkans, Caucasus and mountains of western Asia. The range also extends into mountains in tropical regions of Asia and Africa.

thumb|Unidentified Campanula in Tashkent Botanical Garden

The species include annual, biennial and perennial plants, and vary in habit from dwarf arctic and alpine species under 5 cm high, to large temperate grassland and woodland species growing to tall.

Description

upright=1.35|thumbThe leaves 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 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.

Cultivation and uses

Well-known species include the northern temperate Campanula rotundifolia, commonly known as harebell in England and bluebell in Scotland and Ireland (though it is not closely related to the true bluebells), and the southern European Campanula medium, commonly known as Canterbury bells (a popular garden plant in the United Kingdom). As well as several species occurring naturally in the wild in northern Europe, there are many cultivated garden species.

The cultivars 'Misty Dawn'

and 'Kent Belle'

have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

The species Campanula rapunculus, commonly known as rampion bellflower, rampion, or rover bellflower, is a biennial vegetable which was once widely grown in Europe for its spinach-like leaves and radish-like roots. In many English translations of the Brothers Grimm's tale Rapunzel, rampion is the vegetable that is stolen from the witch. (Rapunzel is a completely different plant, Valerianella locusta.)

In the UK the National Collection of campanulas is held at Burton Agnes Hall in East Yorkshire and the National Collection of Alpine Campanulas at Langham Hall, Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk.

The classification of some Campanulaceae genera as either part of Campanula or separate genera can vary by system, including Azorina, Campanulastrum, Canarina, Edraianthus, Musschia, Ostrowskia, and Platycodon. Some genera previously not segregated from Campanula currently are segregated in some systems, including Annaea, Gadellia, and Theodorovia. Hemisphaera was formerly Campanula, subsect. Scapiflorae, and Neocodon was Campanula sect. Rapunculus.

Selected species

thumb|right|Campanula persicifolia

thumbnail|right|Campanula cervicaria

452 species are currently accepted. They include:

  • Campanula aghrica – Aghrian bellflower
  • Campanula alaskana
  • Campanula alliariifolia – Cornish bellflower
  • Campanula alpestris
  • Campanula alpina
  • Campanula balfourii – Socotra bellflower
  • Campanula barbata – bearded bellflower
  • Campanula betulifolia
  • Campanula bononiensis
  • Campanula bravensis
  • Campanula carpatica – Carpathian bellflower
  • Campanula cervicaria – bristly bellflower
  • Campanula cochleariifolia – fairies' thimbles
  • Campanula collina – blue dwarf bellflower
  • Campanula divaricata – Appalachian bellflower
  • Campanula erinus
  • Campanula garganica – Adriatic bellflower
  • Campanula gelida
  • Campanula glomerata – clustered bellflower
  • Campanula grandis – great bellflower
  • Campanula hercegovina
  • Campanula isophylla – Italian bellflower
  • Campanula jacobaea
  • Campanula lactiflora – milky bellflower
  • Campanula lanata
  • Campanula lasiocarpa
  • Campanula latifolia – wide-leaved bellflower
  • Campanula medium – Canterbury bells
  • Campanula parryi
  • Campanula patula – spreading bellflower
  • Campanula pendula
  • Campanula persicifolia – peach-leaved bellflower
  • Campanula piperi – Piper's bellflower
  • Campanula portenschlagiana – Dalmatian or wall bellflower
  • Campanula poscharskyana – Serbian bellflower
  • Campanula primulifolia – Spanish bellflower
  • Campanula punctata
  • Campanula punctata var. punctata (synonym Campanula takesimana) – Korean bellflower
  • Campanula pyramidalis – chimney bellflower
  • Campanula raineri – Rainer's bellflower
  • Campanula rapunculoides – creeping bellflower
  • Campanula rapunculus – rampion bellflower
  • Campanula rotundifolia – harebell, bluebell
  • Campanula scabrella – rough bellflower
  • Campanula scheuchzeri
  • Campanula scouleri – Scouler's or pale bellflower
  • Campanula serrata
  • Campanula shetleri – Castle Crags bellflower
  • Campanula spicata
  • Campanula thyrsoides
  • Campanula trachelium – nettle-leaved bellflower

Formerly placed here

  • Adenophora gmelinii <small>(Spreng.) Fisch.</small> (as C. coronopifolia <small>Schult.</small> or C. gmelinii <small>Spreng.</small>)
  • Adenophora khasiana <small>(Hook.f. & Thomson) Collett & Hemsl.</small> (as C. khasiana <small>Hook.f. & Thomson</small>)
  • Adenophora liliifolia <small>(L.) Besser</small> (as C. liliifolia <small>L.</small>)
  • Adenophora triphylla <small>(Thunb.) A.DC.</small> (as C. tetraphylla <small>Thunb.</small> or C. triphylla <small>Thunb.</small>)
  • Azorina vidalii <small>(H.C.Watson) Feer</small> (as C. vidalii <small>H.C.Watson</small>)
  • Borago pygmaea <small>(DC.) Chater & Greuter</small> (as C. pygmaea <small>DC.</small>)
  • Campanulastrum americanum (as Campanula americana ) – American bellflower
  • Eastwoodiella californica (as C. californica )
  • Favratia zoysii (as C. zoysii )
  • Legousia pentagonia <small>(L.) Druce</small> (as C. pentagonia <small>L.</small>)
  • Legousia speculum-veneris <small>(L.) Durande ex Vill.</small> (as C. speculum-veneris <small>L.</small>)
  • Melanocalyx uniflora (as C. uniflora )
  • Platycodon grandiflorus <small>(Jacq.) A.DC.</small> (as C. glauca <small>Thunb.</small> or C. grandiflora <small>Jacq.</small>)
  • Protocodon robinsiae (as Campanula robinsiae )
  • Ravenella angustiflora (as C. angustiflora )
  • Ravenella exigua (as C. exigua )
  • Ravenella griffinii (as C. griffinii )
  • Ravenella sharsmithiae (as C. sharsmithiae )
  • Rotanthella floridana (as Campanula floridana )
  • Smithiastrum wilkinsianum (as C. wilkinsiana ) – Wilkin's bellflower
  • Triodanis perfoliata <small>(L.) Nieuwl.</small> (as C. perfoliata <small>L.</small>)
  • Wahlenbergia linarioides <small>(Lam.) A.DC.</small> (as C. linarioides <small>Lam.</small>)
  • Wahlenbergia marginata <small>(Thunb.) A.DC.</small> C. gracilis <small>G.Forst.</small> or C. marginata <small>Thunb.</small>)
  • Wahlenbergia undulata <small>(L.f.) A.DC.</small> (as C. undulata <small>L.f.</small>)

Chemistry

Violdelphin is an anthocyanin, a type of plant pigment, found in the blue flowers in the genus Campanula.

Fossil record

Three fossil seeds of †Campanula palaeopyramidalis have been extracted from borehole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland.

References