Family : Campanulaceae
Text © Alessandro Bordin
English translation by Mario Beltramini
Campanula medium © Giuseppe Mazza
Common name : Canterbury Bells.
Scientific name : Campanula medium L. (1753).
Subspecies : none.
Phytogeographic type : North-western mountain Mediterranean.
Habitat : bushy slopes, heaps of stones and landslides in preferably calcareous soils. It can be found from 150 to 1.500 metres of altitude.
Blossoming : May-June.
Brief description. Perennial plant. Stem : upright, simple, ramified in the apical part, tall up to 90 cm. Lower leaves : oblanceolate-spatulate, forming an irregular rosette. Caulinar leaves: sessile lanceolate. All leaves are thickly bristly. Flowers : the stem carries, at the apex, a raceme of flowers with a corolla of great size, provided with a peduncle. Calyx : with tube, lanceolate heart-shaped teeth and folded back appendices. Corolla : of great size with five lilac-tending petals, divided only at the tip, shows five stigmas. Fruit : capsule containing many seeds.
Possibility of confusion with other species : none.
Possibility of cultivation : in rocky gardens.
Curiosity : it’s the floral emblem of the Principality of Monaco.