marsh bellflower

Great Plains

Midwest

OBL - Obligate wetland

Northcentral & Northeast

OBL - Obligate wetland

Native

Common

Wet. Sedge meadows, marshes, bogs, calcareous fens,and coniferous swamps. Full sun.

July to September

Pale blue to almost white

6″ to 36″ (see Comments below)

This is a 6″ to 36″ tall perennial forb that rises from slender underground stems (rhizomes) very shallow roots.

The stems are weak, loosely spreading, and usually reclining on or tangled with adjacent vegetation. They are often somewhat 3-angled and are sparingly branched toward the top. They are slightly rough to the touch due to short, stiff, downward-curved hairs.

The leaves are alternate, linear, and ¾″ to 3½″ long, on average 12 times as long as wide. They become gradually shorter as they ascend the stem. They are attached to the stem without a stalk. They are angled or tapered at the base and short-tapered to a point at the tip. They are rough to the touch with short, stiff, backward-curved hairs along the margins and on the midvein on the underside. The margins sometimes have a few minute teeth.

The inflorescence is a solitary flower on a long, slender stalk at the end of the stem and each branch.

The flowers are funnel-shaped to more-or-less bell-shaped and 3 ⁄16″ to ½″ long. There are 5 sepals, 5 petals, 5 stamens, and 1 style. The sepals (calyx) are green, fused at the base into a 1 ⁄32″ to 1 ⁄16″long tube, then separated into 5 equal, triangular to lance-shaped, 1 ⁄32″ to 1 ⁄16″long lobes. The petals are pale blue to almost white. They are fused at the base into a 1 ⁄32″ to 1 ⁄16″long tube, then separated into 5 equal, ⅛″ to 5 ⁄16″ long lobes. The filaments on the stamens are dilated and hairy at the base. The style is 1 ⁄32″ to 1 ⁄16″long at flowering time and has a usually 3-lobed stigma at the tip.

The fruit is an inversely egg-shaped to nearly globe-shaped, ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ long and wide capsule.

Marsh bellflower (Campanula aparinoides var. aparinoides) leaves are lance-shaped, shorter, and broader, no more than 2″ long and about 6 times as long as wide. The corolla is slightly smaller, no more than ⅜″ long. The fruit capsule is smaller, no more than 1 ⁄16″ long and wide. This is the southern variety. It is much less common in Minnesota.

Sources: 4, 7, 29.

Plant Height
Marsh bellflower has a weak stem and usually relies on adjacent plants for support. The literature for this species gives its height as 20″ (Yatskievych⁴²) or 24″ (Chadde⁶²). Online Virtual Flora of Wisconsin has it at up to 36″ tall. Based on personal sightings, MinnesotaSeasons.com agrees with the latter source.