Campanula rapunculus

Rapunzel bellflower (Campanula rapunculus )

The Rapunzel bellflower (Campanula rapunculus ) is a species of the large genus of the bellflower (Campanula ).

Description

The Rapunzel bellflower is a 30-100 cm tall perennial herbaceous plant. The stems are angular and slightly hairy or bald. The rosette leaves are obovate and toothed. The 1.5 to 2.5 cm long, stalked flowers sit in a small, grape -like panicle with small erect branches, the bright purple bell-shaped flowers are cut to a third.

Locations and distribution

The species grows on semi-dry turf, on road and bush edges and meadows. She prefers more or less dry, nutrient-rich, loamy soil.

The Rapunzel bellflower comes from Southern Europe to Scandinavia. Furthermore, they are found in north-west Africa, Siberia and northwestern Asia. It is a sub-Mediterranean Florenelement.

In Germany it is quite common in the western, central and southwestern area. In the north, east and south of the Danube it is either very rare or absent. While the kind in Switzerland, is everywhere, it is very rare to find in Austria in Burgenland and is considered threatened with extinction.

Use

The root of Rapunzel bellflower is thickened fleshy and can be ( Apium graveolens ) or beetroot cooked as a tasty root vegetables such as celery True. Raw root slices and leaves yield a salad. In the Middle Ages, the plants were collected and cultured in the garden. In Alsace and Switzerland, the species was still grown 1906-1929. Similar to the corn salad ( Valeria locusta ) in winter, the rosette leaves were harvested. Accordingly, the plant is a typical cultural relic in the wild.

Pictures

• Habit
• Details of the inflorescence
• Leaves