''Campanula patula'' or spreading bellflower is a plant species of the genus ''

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

''. It can grow to more than half a meter high. This delicate bellflower bears lateral branches of pale blue or white flowers that are upright and funnel shaped. The leaves are narrow and pointed. Branches are often supported by the surrounding vegetation, so the plants can appear prostrate. The main difference between this and other bellflowers is that the petals in the bell are spread out and more pointed and this gives this species its common name.

Description

Spreading bellflower is a

biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and t ...

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

growing to a height of . The stem is branched, erect and wiry and often reddish near the base. In its first year, this plant produces a rosette of short-stalked, slender, spatulate leaves. In the second year it sends up one or more flowering stalks. The leaves on these are alternate, linear and unstalked, the margins having rounded teeth. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a few-flowered terminal

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

. The calyx is fused and has five triangular lobes, sharp tipped and spreading. The corolla is five-lobed, long with five violet-blue (or occasionally white) fused petals. The corolla lobes are longer than they are wide. There are five stamens and a pistil formed from three fused carpels. The fruit is a strongly-veined, conical capsule. The flowering period is from June to September.

Distribution and habitat

Spreading bellflower is native to temperate parts of Europe and widely naturalised elsewhere. Its natural habitat is meadows, banks, open woodland, clearings, roadside verges, fallow fields and waste ground. In the United Kingdom it is rare in the wild, occurring mainly on infertile banks and rock outcrops. It needs light for the seeds to germinate so may reappear after many years of absence when the soil is disturbed. A bellflower weevil in the genus '' Miarus'' is associated with this plant.

References

External links

* {{Authority control patula Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus