tall bellflower

(Campanulastrum americanum)

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

N5? - Secure

SNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

Wetland Indicator Status

Great Plains

FAC - Facultative

Midwest

FAC - Facultative

Northcentral & Northeast

FAC - Facultative

 
tall bellflower
 
 
Description

Tall bellflower is a 3 to 6 tall, erect, winter-annual or biennial forb that rises from a taproot.

The stems are erect, stout, more or less hairy, unbranched or sometimes branched above the middle. When broken or cut they exude a milky sap.

The leaves are alternate, thin, lance-shaped to oblong egg-shaped, 3 to 6 long, and ½ to 2 wide. They taper at the base and are attached to the stem by a short leaf stalk or no stalk at all. They taper gradually at the tip to a point with concave sides along the tip. The margins are toothed and have a fringe of short hairs. The upper and lower surfaces are sparsely hairy.

The inflorescence is a 4 to 16 spike of many flowers at the ends of the stems. The lower bracts on the spike are leaf-like, the upper bracts are much smaller. The flowers are in clusters of 1 to 3 in the axils of the bracts.

The flowers are ¾ to 1 wide, flat, and circular, with 5 blue petals. The petals are fused at the base into a tube, then separated into 5 widely spreading lobes. They are whitish near the throat, giving an overall appearance of white central ring. The petal lobes are egg-shaped and have wavy margins. The style is blue, as dark or darker than the petals, protrudes well beyond the petals, bends downward, then curves upward. At the end of the style is a white stigma with 3 widely spreading lobes.

The fruit is a cylinder-shaped, ¼ to ½ long, hairless, 3-chambered capsule with many seeds.

 

Height

3 to 6

 

Flower Color

Blue with a white central ring

 

Similar Species

The widely spreading lobes and inner pale ring of this bellflower make it easy to identify. Other bellflowers in Minnesota have bell-shaped flowers.

Habitat

Moist. Wood borders, open woods, stream banks.

Ecology

Flowering

July to September

 

Pests and Diseases

 

Use

 

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

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

10/16/2024    
     

Nativity

Native

     

Occurrence

Locally common

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae (green algae and land plants)

Subkingdom

Viridiplantae (green plants)

Infrakingdom

Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)

Superdivision

Embryophyta (land plants)

Division

Tracheophyta (vascular plants)

Subdivision

Spermatophytina (seed plants) / Angiospermae (flowering plants)

Class

Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)

Superorder

Asteranae

Order

Asterales (sunflowers, bellflowers, fanflowers, and allies)

Family

Campanulaceae (bellflower)

Subfamily

Campanuloideae (bellflower)

Genus

Campanulastrum (tall bellflowers)

   

Subordinate Taxa

 

   

Synonyms

Campanula acuminata

Campanula americana

Campanula americana f. albiflora

Campanula americana f. tubuliflora

Campanula americana var. illinoensis

Campanula americana var. subulata

Campanula asteroides

Campanula illinoensis

Specularia americana

 

   

Common Names

American bellflower

tall bellflower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Axil

The upper angle where the leaf stalk meets the stem.

 

Bract

Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.

 

Winter-annual

A plant whose seeds germinate in late summer or fall and that flowers and fruits in the spring or summer of the following year, and then dies.

Visitor Photos
 

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Luciearl

tall bellflower

Found in my woods 10/13/24. Lake Shore. Not expecting blooming flowers this time of year.😊

Kirk Nelson

tall bellflower   tall bellflower
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
tall bellflower   tall bellflower

Plant

 

Plant

     
tall bellflower   tall bellflower

Inflorescence

 

Inflorescence

     
tall bellflower   tall bellflower

Flowers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers

     
tall bellflower   tall bellflower
 

Flower

 

 

 

 

Flower

 

 

     
tall bellflower   tall bellflower
 

Fruit

 

 

 

 

Infructescence

 

 

 

Camera

Slideshows

Campanulastrum americanum (Tall Bellflower)
Allen Chartier

Campanulastrum americanum (Tall Bellflower)

 

slideshow

Visitor Videos
 

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Other Videos

Tall Bellflower
A Celebration of Life

About

Uploaded on Jul 24, 2009

Blue star shaped blooms. pollinater plant

 

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings
 

Report a sighting of this plant.

 

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Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
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Luciearl
10/13/2024

Location: Lake Shore, MN

tall bellflower
Kirk Nelson
8/19/2017

Location: Fort Snelling State Park

tall bellflower
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

 

 

Binoculars

 

Created: 12/25/2011

Last Updated:

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