Phil Bendle Collection:Campanula rapunculoides (Creeping bellflower)

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Campanulaceae
Genus: Campanula
Species: C. rapunculoides
Binomial name: Campanula rapunculoides
Synonyms: Campanula morifolia, Ca. rapunculiformis, Ca. rapunculoides var. ucranica, Ca. rhomboidea, Ca. rigida,
Ca. ucranica, Cenekia rapunculoides, Drymocodon rapunculoides,
Rapunculus redivivus
Common names: Creeping bellflower, Rampion bellflower, Zombie weed, Rover bellflower, Creeping bluebell, Creeping campanula

Campanula rapunculoides is a plant native to Europe and western Siberia and it has been introduced to several countries where it has become an extremely invasive weed. It chokes out other plants and eliminating it is nearly impossible due to its multiple propagation mechanisms. It spreads by thread-like taproots and from seed (up to 15,000 per plant!). It can lay dormant for years and, if there are no insects to pollinate, it will pollinate itself to make seeds.

Campanula rapunculoides reaches on average 30–80 cm of height, with a maximum of 120 cm. The stem is simple, erect and lightly pubescent giving it a rough feeling. It is often purple, especially near the base of the plant. Plants grow erect or leaning.
Leaves have coarse teeth, a rough texture, are generally heart-shaped, becoming smaller and proportionately narrower as they ascend the stem. The basal leaves are heart-shaped and have jagged margins. They are up to 12 centimetres long with stalks to 15 cm long. The upper stem leaves are sessile, lanceolate and are shortly stalked or have no stalk.
The inflorescence at the top of the plant consists of nodding spike-like raceme with numerous drooping flowers along one side of the stem. The raceme can grow to more than half the length of the plant. The bell-shaped flowers are blue to blue-violet (rarely white), 2 to 4 cm long and have 5 pointed lobes that are slightly ciliate. There are 5 curly yellow stamens and a protruding style with a divided, curled tip. The flowers have short petioles standing to one side in the axils of the bracts. The bracts are quite different and smaller than the leaves. The sepals are lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, entire, and wide at the base up to 2.5 mm. 
The fruit is a capsule with five pores near the base, where the seeds are spread.
This plant has its overwintering buds situated just below the soil surface (hemicryptophyte). 

 

Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

 

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