ADRIA BELLFLOWER

Campanula portenschlagiana

Bellflower Family [Campanulaceae]  

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status
statusZneophyte
flower
flower8blue
morph
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petals
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stem
stem8round
stem
stem8milkysap stem8milkylatex

5th Dec 2017, a garden wall, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Grows on walls and rocky banks; here a garden wall. The flowers of Adria Bellflower are violet-blue (rather than the slatey-blue of the similar Trailing Bellflower). The stems are between 30 and 50cm long as they are for Trailing Bellflower too. The stems are hairless to sparsely hairy and decumbent or ascending.


5th Dec 2017, a garden wall, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
The 5 petals are only lobed 1/4 to 2/5 ths of the way to the base (as opposed to the deeply cut 1/2 and 3/4 of the way for Trailing Bellflower).


5th Dec 2017, a garden wall, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Here the style is split into 3 stigmas at the end. The white wire-like stamens are also similar to those on Adria Bellflower. The calyx teeth (under the top rightmost flower) are lanceolate only (as opposed to lanceolate to narrowly ovate on Trailing Bellflower.


5th Dec 2017, a garden wall, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
The leaves are similar to those of Trailing Bellflower (i.e. cardioid for lower leaves, rhombic for leaves nearer the flowers) with irregular triangular lobed teeth.


5th Dec 2017, a garden wall, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
The leaf stems are unusual, however, both winged but unusually swept backwards instead of being in the same plane as the leaves.


Easily mis-identified as Trailing Bellflower Campanula poscharskyana which is also more common than Adria Bellflower, but it is usually the opposite way around : Trailing Bellflower Campanula poscharskyana is mis-identified more often as Adria Bellflower. But sometimes, it might just be that botanists get the two specific epithets mixed up, for they are very similar, wouldn't the reader agree: (C. portenschlagiana for Adria Bellflower, C. poscharskyana for Trailing Bellflower). For the botanical differences between the two see the captions beneath the photos.

Like many Bellflowers it is said to ooze a sticky white liquid from broken stems, but it is not toxic, and may even be edible. One source says this milky sap contains the diabetic 'sugar' Inulin which certainly is edible. Many other sources claim that most bellflowers have a sticky milky sap, but none say which Bellflowers do not!

Widely naturalised from gardens.


  Campanula portenschlagiana  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Campanulaceae  

Distribution
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 BSBI maps
genus8campanula
Campanula
(Bellflowers)

ADRIA BELLFLOWER

Campanula portenschlagiana

Bellflower Family [Campanulaceae]  

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