Campanula rapunculus, L.

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1976, Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae), Cambridge University Press : 80

19. C. rapunculus L. , Sp. Pl. 164 (1753).

Biennial. Root napiform. Stem up to 100 cm, erect, simple, glabrous to slightly hirsute. Basal leaves obovate, obtuse to acuminate, petiolate; cauline linear-lanceolate. Flowers sessile or pedicellate, in a branched inflorescence. Calyx-teeth very long, erect, setiform. Corolla 10-20 mm, white or pale blue, infundibuliform, a little longer than the calyx-teeth. Capsule obconical. 2л = 20. Forestmargins, meadows and waste places. Europe, southwards from the Netherlands and S.C. Russia, but absent from most of the islands', formerly cultivated as a vegetable and naturalized in parts of the north. Al Au Be Bu Co Cz Ga Ge Gr He Ho Hs Hu It Ju Lu Po Rm Rs (C, W, K, E) Tu [Br Da Su].

Very variable. Infraspecific taxa have been described by many authors but do not seem worth recognition. C. lactiflora Bieb. , Fl. Taur.-Cauc. 1: 153 (1808), from the Caucasus and W. Asia, is more or less naturalized in Czechoslovakia and Britain (Aberdeenshire). It is a perennial up to 150 cm, with large, lax inflorescence and numerous white or pale blue flowers.