Creeping Bellflower, Campanula rapunculoides is aspecies of flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae, native to
Europe, north to 65°N., east to W. Asia and the Caucasus, but it
is widely cultivated as an ornamental throughout the temperate
world. It is an invasive species in some parts of the world
(particularly North America) and is an introduced species in the
UK..
| Common Name: Creeping Bellflower |
| Scientific Name: Campanula rapunculoides |
| Other Names: rampion bellflower, rover bellflower, garden bluebell, creeping bluebell, purple bell, garden harebell, and creeping campanula |
| Family: Campanulaceae |
| Range: Origin: Europe, north to 65°N., east to W. Asia and the Caucasus. Introduced in Britain. |
Physical Characteristics
Mahonia aquifolium is an Perennial growing to 1.2m by 1 m at a fast rate. It is in flower from July to September, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Bees, flies, beetles, Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). The plant is self-fertile.
Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
|
| Edible Parts: Flowers, leaves, roots, shoots |
 Edibility Rating: 4 
|
 Known Hazards: None known.
|
Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Creeping Bellflower along with all the Creeping Bellflower containing recipes presented on this site, with 5 recipes in total.
These recipes, all contain Creeping Bellflower as a major wild food ingredient.
Campanula rapunculoides reaches on average 30–80 centimetres of height, with a maximum of 120 centimetres. The stem is simple, erect and lightly pubescent and the leaves are usually shortly hairy. The basal leaves are triangular, narrow, with a heart-shaped or rounded base, jagged edges and are up to 12 centimetres (4.7 in) long. The upper stem leaves are sessile, lanceolate, and shortly stalked.
The inflorescence consists of nodding spikelike racemes with numerous drooping flowers. The flowers are bright blue-violet (rarely white), 2 to 4 centimetres (0.79 to 1.57 in) long, with short petioles standing to one side in the axils of the bracts. The bracts are quite different and smaller than the leaves. The sepals are lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, entire, wide at the base up to 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in). The corolla is bell-shaped, with five deep lobes slightly ciliate. The flowering period extends from June through September. The flowers are pollinated by insects (bees, flies, butterflies, etc.) (entomophily). The fruit is a capsule with five pores near the base, where the seeds are spread.
The plant seeds abundantly (each plant can produce 15,000 seeds), and while some roots come out when it is pulled, the horizontal rhizomes grow vertical storage tubers, which may not be anywhere near the surface portions of the plant. These storage tubers can regrow rhizomes, which in turn send up shoots at some distance from the storage tubers.
Campanula rapunculoides is native to Europe and western Siberia, where it grows in semi-shaded areas like open woods, the edges of denser forests, and meadowland. It has been introduced to North America, where it has become an extremely invasive weed; it chokes out other plants, and eliminating it is nearly impossible due to its multiple propagation mechanisms. Like many related Campanula species and more distant relatives, it is edible and was historically grown for food (dried slivers of root, where the plant is known as Doraji, are commercially available in Korea).
Th leaves and young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked and are rich in vitamin C. They have a pleasant mild flavour and are excellent collected as part of mixed wild greens. The basal leaves are often cooked as a pot herb, where they blend in with other leaves unnoticeably. The root is edible raw or cooked and has a nut-like flavour, and is very palatable. The young roots are best. Somewhat sweet, raw they are a pleasant addition to the salad bowl. It should be noted that the roots, like Jerusalem artichokes have inulin as the main storage carbohydrate and causes painful flatulence in those susceptible. However, the inulin is significantly reduced if fermented.
The flowers are also edible and can be candied as well as making a colourful statement in salads.
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1999
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–12.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants, 2004
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland, 2011
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) — How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland, 2006
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles, 1983
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles, 1987
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms, 2006
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms, 2011
[12]. Bunker, F. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland, Second Edition, 2017
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia II — A Source Book of Edible Plants, 1998
[14]. Hartford, R. Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants of Britain and Ireland: A Foraging and Photographic Identification Guide
(Note that the above book links are Amazon Affiliate links)
These recipes, all contain Creeping Bellflower as a major wild food ingredient.
Campanula rapunculoides reaches on average 30–80 centimetres of height, with a maximum of 120 centimetres. The stem is simple, erect and lightly pubescent and the leaves are usually shortly hairy. The basal leaves are triangular, narrow, with a heart-shaped or rounded base, jagged edges and are up to 12 centimetres (4.7 in) long. The upper stem leaves are sessile, lanceolate, and shortly stalked.
The inflorescence consists of nodding spikelike racemes with numerous drooping flowers. The flowers are bright blue-violet (rarely white), 2 to 4 centimetres (0.79 to 1.57 in) long, with short petioles standing to one side in the axils of the bracts. The bracts are quite different and smaller than the leaves. The sepals are lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, entire, wide at the base up to 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in). The corolla is bell-shaped, with five deep lobes slightly ciliate. The flowering period extends from June through September. The flowers are pollinated by insects (bees, flies, butterflies, etc.) (entomophily). The fruit is a capsule with five pores near the base, where the seeds are spread.
The plant seeds abundantly (each plant can produce 15,000 seeds), and while some roots come out when it is pulled, the horizontal rhizomes grow vertical storage tubers, which may not be anywhere near the surface portions of the plant. These storage tubers can regrow rhizomes, which in turn send up shoots at some distance from the storage tubers.
Campanula rapunculoides is native to Europe and western Siberia, where it grows in semi-shaded areas like open woods, the edges of denser forests, and meadowland. It has been introduced to North America, where it has become an extremely invasive weed; it chokes out other plants, and eliminating it is nearly impossible due to its multiple propagation mechanisms. Like many related Campanula species and more distant relatives, it is edible and was historically grown for food (dried slivers of root, where the plant is known as Doraji, are commercially available in Korea).
Th leaves and young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked and are rich in vitamin C. They have a pleasant mild flavour and are excellent collected as part of mixed wild greens. The basal leaves are often cooked as a pot herb, where they blend in with other leaves unnoticeably. The root is edible raw or cooked and has a nut-like flavour, and is very palatable. The young roots are best. Somewhat sweet, raw they are a pleasant addition to the salad bowl. It should be noted that the roots, like Jerusalem artichokes have inulin as the main storage carbohydrate and causes painful flatulence in those susceptible. However, the inulin is significantly reduced if fermented.
The flowers are also edible and can be candied as well as making a colourful statement in salads.
References:
[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1999
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–12.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants, 2004
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland, 2011
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) — How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland, 2006
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles, 1983
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles, 1987
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms, 2006
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms, 2011
[12]. Bunker, F. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland, Second Edition, 2017
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia II — A Source Book of Edible Plants, 1998
[14]. Hartford, R. Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants of Britain and Ireland: A Foraging and Photographic Identification Guide
(Note that the above book links are Amazon Affiliate links)
The alphabetical list of all Creeping Bellflower recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 5 recipes in total:
Page 1 of 1
| Doraji Namul (Stir-fried Creeping Bellflower Root) Origin: Korea | Mashed Creeping Bellflower Root Origin: British | Wild Greens Spanakopita Origin: Fusion |
| Fermented Mixed Vegetables Origin: America | Wild Greens Kimchi Origin: Fusion |
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