Campanulastrum americanum (L.) Small

American Bellflower; Tall Bellflower

Herb

Annual

Vascular

American Bellflower is a native herbaceous annual or biennial in the Bellflower family (Campanulaceae). It is native to area of Alabama underlain by limestone such as the Tennessee Valley and the Black Belt Prairie region. It occurs in in moist to dry hardwood forests, along streams, on roadsides, and along the margins of cedar glades and prairies. It is an annual with a tap root. Stems are erect, 2-6 feet in height, green in color, and slightly pubescent. The stems are unbranched or slightly branched from near the base. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, elliptic to lanceolate in outline, with serrate margins. The leaves are pubescent along the major veins on the lower side of the leaf. Flowers are produced in a terminal raceme. The calyx is divided into 5 linear lobes. The dark to light blue corolla is rotate with 5 lobes. The margins of the corolla lobes are undulate. The corolla has a white ring in its center and the style is large, bending downwards then curving up near its tip. The fruit is a capsule. American Bellflower is sometimes available from wildflower nurseries as seed. The plant prefers light shade to partial sun with a moist loamy soil. American Bellflower flowers are visited by many species of insects including the native oligolectic bee Megachile campanulae. This native bee pollinates of a wide array of wildflowers and crops.--A. Diamond

**

Native

**