creeping bellflower

Creeping bellflower is an exotic, extremely invasive weed. It is native to Europe and western Siberia. It was imported into North America and widely cultivated as a garden ornamental. It readily escapes cultivation. It now occurs throughout northern United States and southern Canada. It is common and widespread in Minnesota.

Creeping bellflower is a 16″ to 40″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises from a long, creeping rhizome.

The stems are erect, slender, and usually unbranched. They are usually hairless, sometimes sparsely hairy above the middle. When broken, the stem exudes a milky sap.

Basal leaves are, broadly egg-shaped to heart-shaped, ¾″ to 2¾″ long, and 1″ to 1⅜″ wide. They are on 19 ⁄16″ to 4″ long leaf stalks. They are rounded or heart-shaped at the base and tapered or angled to a sharp point at the tip. The upper surface is dark green. The lower surface is light green and sparsely hairy. The margins are coarsely toothed with uneven, sharp, forward-pointing teeth.

Lower stem leaves are alternate, egg-shaped to triangular egg-shaped, ¾″ to 2″ long, and otherwise similar to basal leaves. The leaves become progressively narrower and on shorter leaf stalks as they ascend the stem. Upper stem leaves are narrowly lance-shaped and nearly stalkless.

The inflorescence is a relatively dense, unbranched, up to 12″ long, spike-like array (raceme) at the end of the stem. The flowers are mostly along one side of the central axis. They nod downward on short stalks rising from the axils of bracts, one flower per axil. Lower bracts are the size and shape of the upper leaves. As they ascend the raceme they quickly become much shorter, narrower, and less leaf-like.

The flowers are bell-shaped and ¾″ to 13 ⁄16″ long. There are 5 green, hairy sepals (calyx), fused at their base into a ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ long tube, then separated into 5 lance-shaped, 3 ⁄16″ to ¼″ long lobes. The calyx lobes are widely spreading or bent backward at maturity. There are 5 bluish-violet petals, fused at their base for about half of their length into a ⅜″ to ½″ long tube, then separated into 5 lance-shaped, ¼″ to ⅜″ long lobes. The lobes of the corolla may be ascending, spreading, or bent backward. The calyx and corolla are each radially symmetrical so that if bisected vertically on any plane each half would be identical. There are 5 stamens that do not protrude from the corolla tube. There is a single white or pale style that ends in a stigma with 3 spreading lobes. The style protrudes from the corolla tube but is not as long as the petals.

The fruit is a nearly spherical, 3-chambered capsule containing many seeds. The capsule is 3 ⁄16″ to 5 ⁄16″ long, 3 ⁄16″ to ¼″ wide, and is covered with downward curved, bristly hairs.

16″ to 40″

bluish-violet

Intermediate bellflower (Campanula intercedens) is a much less robust plant. It has linear leaves usually less than ⅜″ wide. The inflorescence is an open cluster of 3 to 8 flowers.

Lawns, roadsides, disturbed areas.

June to October

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 22, 24, 28, 29, 30.

Native to Europe and western Siberia. Introduced, cultivated, and naturalized in North America.

Common and widespread

Plant

Inflorescence

Leaf

Campanula rapunculoides
Susanne Wiik

Creeping Bellflower
Andree Reno Sanborn

Creeping Bellflower, identification of the Wisconsin Invasive Species Campanula rapunculoides
uwcoopextension

Creeping Bellflower (Campanula Rapunculoides) - 2012-07-14
W3stlander

Alfredo Colon
8/30/2019

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota