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Campanula rapunculoides

Common name:	Creeping Bellflower	Family:	Campanulaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe, north to 65°N., east to W. Asia and the Caucasus. Introduced in Britain.
Habitat:	Fields and woods[100]. Naturalised in Britain where it grows in fields and more or less disturbed grassy areas such as railway banks, occasionally in woods, usually near to houses[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. rapunculoides var. ucranica[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Akkerklokje [D], Creeping Bellflower [H,L,B], Rampion Bellflower [P],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Campanulales. Bellflower family
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1.2m by 1m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 3. It is in flower from July to September, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies, beetles and Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Leaves; Root.

Leaves and young shoots - raw or cooked[85, 177]. Rich in vitamin C. A pleasant mild flavour[K].
Root - raw or cooked[2, 105, 177]. A nut-like flavour, very palatable[85]. The young roots are best[85]. Somewhat sweet, they are a pleasant addition to the salad bowl[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

The plant has been used as a cure for hydrophobia in Russia[271].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant succeeding in almost any soil[221], though it prefers a moist but well-drained rich sandy loam and a neutral or alkaline soil in sun or partial shade[1, 200]. It is slower growing and less spreading when grown in heavier soils[271].
Plants are hardy to at least -15°c[200].
The species in this genus do not often hybridize and so seed can generally be relied upon to come true[221]. The plants are self-fertile[221].
A beautiful plant, it was at one time cultivated as a culinary plant but has fallen into disuse[4].
The plant produces a mass of thick white roots which can spread at an alarming rate, especially in light soils. It can often fill an entire bed with its tenaceous roots, killing off less vigorous plants[271]. It is best grown in the wild garden where it can be allowed to romp without harm[221, 271]. Plants can also succeed when growing in thin grass[233]. Plants produce seed freely and often self-sow[221].
Slugs are very attracted to this plant, we have had great problems growing it on our Cornish trial grounds because the slugs eat out all the new shoots in spring and can kill even well-established specimens[K].
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[233].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow spring in a cold frame. The seed usually germinates in 2 - 4 weeks at 18°c[138]. Easy[221]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Basal cuttings in spring[200]. Harvest the shoots when they are about 10 - 15cm long with plenty of underground stem. Pot them up into individual pots and keep them in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the summer.
Division in spring or autumn[200]. Very easy, any part of the root will produce a new plant[221].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Edible Ornamental Plants

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[138] Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan. 1989
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[221] Crook. H. Clifford. Campanulas Country Life 1951
A comprehensive treatment of the genus.

[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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