Hairless perennial herb to about 70 cm tall. Lower leaves lanceolate to obovate, narrowing to a long stalk. Upper leaves linear-lanceolate, stalkless. Flowers mostly in terminal spikes, hanging down, the corolla lobes short, erect, blue or white; summer.

NW Asia, N Africa, Europe

Available as a range of colour forms, sometimes semi-double or double or in named seed mixes.

 

C. glomerata L., Clustered Bellflower, from Eurasia is a rough perennial with flowers in dense, terminal, rounded clusters, violet to blue or white. Cultivars include: 'Alba', flowers white; 'Alba Nana', flowers small, white; and 'Superba', flowers violet-purple; while var. dahurica Ker Gawl has deep purple flowers.

C. lactiflora Bieb., Milky Bellflower, grows to 1.5 m tall with broad-branched flower clusters and flowers mostly blue with a white centre. There are several cultivars: 'Alba' has white flowers; 'Loddon Anna' has clusters of pale lilac-pink flowers and is a sport raised at Carlisle Nursery, UK; and 'Pouffe' is a dwarf form with blue flowers, a sport from 'Bressingham'.

C. latifolia L. from Kashmir grows to 1m tall with lower leaves ovate-cordate and flowers pale blue or pale lavender. 'Alba' has white flowers; var. macrantha Hornem. has violet-blue flowers.

C. latiloba A. DC. is like C. persicifolia but generally more robust.

C. pyramidalis L., Chimney Flower, grows to 1.5 m tall with blue to white flowers in lateral branches; 'Alba' has flowers white.

C. rapunculoides L. has stems to 1 m tall, the flower clusters bluish violet, branched and on one side of the stem.

C. trachelium L., Nettle-leaved Bellflower (Throatwort), has bristly, more or less ovate, often reddish stem leaves and blue-purple to lilac or white flowers with the lobes bearded inside. 'Alba Flore Pleno' has pale green leaves and semi-double,white flowers; 'Bernice' has a stiff habit and double blue flowers and is a cultivar known since the late 16th century.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Campanulaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.