CAMPANULACEAE (BLUEBELL FAMILY) 409 
CREEPING BELLFLOWER 
Campdnula rapunculoides, L 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: July to August. 
Seed-time: August to September. 
Range: New Brunswick to Ontario, southward to Pennsylvania and 
Ohio. 
Habitat: Fields and roadsides. 
An escape from gardens. The plant does all its “creeping”’ 
underground by means of slender, horizontal rootstocks. Above 
ground it sends up numerous stems one to three feet tall, rather 
stout, smooth or sometimes finely hairy, 
simple or with one or two branches near 
the top. Leaves alternate, long-pointed 
ovate, heart-shaped at base, irregularly 
toothed, the lower ones with petioles, the 
upper ones sessile, diminishing’ in size as 
they ascend the stalk. Flowers in a slen- 
der, one-sided, bracted raceme, each corolla 
a large, five-pointed, nodding, purple bell, 
an inch or more long, the “clapper’’ be- 
ing its long, white style with three-cleft, 
curving stigma; stamens five, alternate 
with the corolla lobes. The flowers unfold 
from the base upward, leaving behind a 
string of globular, three-celled smooth cap- 
sules, opening by three valves at the base. 
Seeds small and very numerous. (Fig. 286.) 
Means of control 
The plant forms spreading patches, which, 
if not too large, may be grubbed out, care 
being taken to get every shred of the root- 
stocks; or the latter may be starved by 
close and repeated cuttings throughout the 
growing season, salt being used on the shorn 
surfaces in order to check new growth. 
Fic. 286. — Creeping 
Bellflower (Campanula 
rapunculoides). X }. 
