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Creeping Bellflower
Campanula rapunculoides
Creeping bellflower has blue to purple bell-shaped
flowers in a one-sided inflorescence. That is, all the flowers
are on the same side of the stem. The flower bells split near
the tip to form five pointed lobes. The leaves are alternate,
that is, they are not opposite each other on the stem, and are
roughly egg-shaped, pointed, and toothed. The stem is usually
unbranched. The plant is a perennial, returning each spring
from the roots. As the roots can send up multiple stems, a
plant can spread into a large colony over the years.
Creeping bellflower is a weed. It hitched a ride with humans
across the Atlantic from its native Eurasia, and is now common from
Nova Scotia to Minnesota south to Delaware, Virginia and Ohio.
Like most weeds, it thrives in disturbed areas so you will see it
along roadsides and in waste places. In Wildwood you are most
likely to glimpse it along Wildwood Drive, or near the entrance
area. It is very common outside the park as well, along roads,
around parking lots, and in vacant lots. Other common names
for this plant reflect its heritage, European bellflower and rover
bellflower. |
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Creeping bellflower is in the Campanulaceae, or Bluebell
Family. The genus name Campanula is Latin for "little bell" and
is related to the word "campanile." The species name, rapunculoides,
means "similar to rapunculus," and refers to the fact that this
species is similar to Campanula rapunculus, known by the common name
of rampion. Rampions used to be cultivated and the roots as well as
the leaves were eaten in salads. The rampion's species name,
rapunculus, means "little turnip" and refers to the use of the plant's
root in salads. |
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