Campanula latifolia L., Giant Bellflower

Account Summary

N Ireland occurrence

In Ireland, this tall (up to 120 cm), erect, conspicuous pale blue- or white-flowered, introduced perennial with a woody rootstock was previously thought to be confined to the NE of the island. It was first recorded in demesne woods near Dromore, Co Down (H38) in 1878, and in both Co Antrim (H39) and Co Londonderry (H40) as recently as 1972 (Beesley 1987; FNEI 3; An Irish Flora 1996). Praeger had also recorded it on marshy ground E of Cookstown, Co Tyrone (H36) in 1946. It flowers in July and August, the flowers solitary in the axils of the upper leaves.

Fermanagh occurrence

In reality, C. latifolia has been present in Fermanagh for well over a century and, as current work indicates, it is well established (Forbes & Northridge 2012). The Fermanagh Flora Database contains records from 17 tetrads (3.2%), 14 of them with post-1975 dates.

Giant Bellflower is found in damp woods, shady hedge- and river-banks and along roadsides. This garden escape or discard is thinly and widely scattered throughout the VC often, but not always, in stations near habitation or human disturbance. In the late 19th century, Dr Hart not only provided the first Fermanagh record of this escapee, he also noted it as a riverside garden escape near Pettigo in the adjacent VC, E Donegal (H34) (Colgan & Scully 1898).

Beesley (1987) notes with some amazement the comment by Clapham et al. (1981), in the 3rd edition of their Excursion Flora of the British Isles, that C. latifolia is absent from Ireland, but a glance at the BSBI Atlas 2 shows that Perring & Walters were under the same misapprehension. Beesley (1987) also quotes correspondence of John Hopton, an English botanist resident and active in NI in the 1970s and familiar with the species from seeing it commonly in N England, who in 1971 noted the species from the car flowering by the roadside between Strabane and Letterkenny in E Donegal (H34).

It thus appears that even when recorded in Co Down (H38), Fermanagh (H33) and E Donegal (H34) in the 19th century, the presence of C. latifolia has been ignored or somehow discounted by later botanists. The recent comparative spate of C. latifolia records in NI may mean it has been ignored and under-recorded in the past, or it may have spread recently in the north of Ireland.

Republic of Ireland occurrence

Elsewhere in Ireland, apart from Ulster in the north, C. latifolia is present as a very rare garden escape established in shady places. The New Atlas map displays a total of just four hectads further south in the RoI, two of recent date-class (1987-1999) in E Cork (H5) and Co Louth (H31), and two of pre-1970 vintage in Co Roscommon (H25) and Co Sligo (H28) (T.D. Dines, in: Preston et al. 2002).

British occurrence

In much of N & C Britain, including in Scotland northwards to the Moray Firth, but absent from much of the Scottish west coast, Great Bellflower is a common and widespread perennial of damp woodland, wooded riverbanks and shady hedge banks, preferring fertile, mildly acid, neutral or calcareous soils (Garrard & Streeter 1983). While it has also been grown in British gardens for a long period, and there are scattered hectads in S England, W Wales and NW Scotland where it is recorded as a garden escape, C. latifolia is still regarded as a native species in much of Britain and is considered one of the wildflower glories of N England in high summer (Perring & Walters 1962, 1976; Stace 1991; Mabey 1996; New Atlas).

Status questions

When a plant is as 'garden worthy' as C. latifolia clearly is, the current author (RSF) feels there exists a need for a logical, dispassionate argument as to why it deserves native status (Webb 1985). In Ireland, C. latifolia has always been recognised as a garden escape; however, looked at from another angle, it might just be possible to construct a parallel case to that of two other notable, attractive and equally garden worthy NE Ireland species that are considered native in a few sites, namely Geranium sylvaticum (Wood Crane's-bill) and G. pratense (Meadow Crane's-bill)!

European and world occurrence

C. latifolia occurs in most of Europe, but is more sparse in the SW (France and the Iberian Peninsula) and the NE (Sweden, Finland and the Baltic States), and in adjacent parts of Asia. It is also poorly represented in the Mediterranean countries with the exception of Italy. It is present in W Asia east to Iran and there are isolated stations reported in the Himalaya region, W Siberia and C Asia. It is considered to be part of the indigenous flora of Scandinavia, although, as in Britain, it has also escaped from cultivation (especially in Finland), and it has been favoured by forest clearances in the northern region of its distribution (Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 1753; Sell & Murrell 2006).

Names and uses

The genus name 'Campanula' is a Latin diminutive of 'campana', 'bell', thus translating as 'little bell', from the shape of the corolla (Gilbert-Carter 1964). The Latin specific epithet 'latifolia' means 'broad-leaved' (Stearn 1992). The English common names include 'Giant Bellflower' since it is the tallest Bellflower in B & I. Grigson (1955, 1987) also lists 'Foxglove' from Yorkshire as it occurs on the limestone uplands of W Yorkshire where the calcifuge Digitalis purpurea is largely absent. 'White Foxglove' is another name, as the flowers can be either blue or white and, like all Campanula species, the plant stem exudes white latex when squeezed.

In the past, presumably in hard times when people were starving, the shoots were peeled, cooked and eaten like spinach and in Yorkshire (again) Grigson reports it being referred to as 'Wild Spinach'.

Threats

None.

References

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