HAREBELL 



Calyx. — With five awl-shaped lobes. 



Coro//a.— Bright-blue, open bell, five-lobed. 



Stamens. — Five; ^stigmas three-lobed; capsule three-lobed. 



Campanula rotundifolia is the Bluebell of literature; a citizen 

 of the v^forld, growing in Europe, America, and Asia. On rocky 

 banks and high ledges it is slender and delicate, its stems swaying 

 in every breath of wind; when transferred to the garden it becomes 

 sturdy and stocky. A curious garden form of the species exists, 

 known as soldanellcBjldra, with semi-double flowers and the corolla 

 split into strips. 



It is extremely variable in height, degree of branching, number 

 and size of flowers, texture of foliage, shape and divergence of 

 calyx-lobes — characters which seem to stand in imperfect equilib- 

 rium, ready to respond to slight change of environment. 



Living as it does in the clefts of rocks, waving' its blue bells 

 from inaccessible heights, apparently delicate and yet invincible, 

 it is one of the few flowers that have appealed alike to the hunter, 

 the wanderer, the naturalist, and the poet. One recalls with 

 pleasure Browning's tribute, where he makes Paracelsus say: 



I helped a. man to die, some few weeks since, 

 Warped even from his go-cart to one end — 

 The living on Princes' smiles, reflected from 

 A mighty herd of favorites. No mean trick 

 He left' untried, and truly wellnigh wormed 

 AH traces of God's finger out of him: 

 Then died, grown old. And just an hour before, 

 Having lain long with blank and soulless eyes, 

 He sat up suddenly, and with natural voice 

 Said that in spite of thick air and closed doors 

 God told him it was June; and he knew well, 

 Without such telling, harebells grew in June; 

 And all that kings could ever give or take 

 Would not be precious as those blooms to him. 



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