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Campanulaceae FAMILY

Campanula rapunculoides

Campanula rapunculoides

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
1/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
GrowthFast

Campanula rapunculoides is a very cold-hardy plant, tolerating winter temperatures falling to at least -20°c[1]. An easily grown plant succeeding in almost any soil[2], though it prefers a moist but well-drained rich sandy loam and a neutral or alkaline soil in sun or partial shade[3, 1]. It is slower growing and less spreading when grown in heavier soils[4]. The species in this genus do not often hybridize and so seed can generally be relied upon to come true[2]. The plants are self-fertile[2]. A beautiful plant, it was at one time cultivated as a culinary plant but has fallen into disuse[5]. 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[4]. It is best grown in the wild garden where it can be allowed to romp without harm[2, 4]. Plants can also succeed when growing in thin grass[6]. Plants produce seed freely and often self-sow[2]. 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[PFAF]. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[6].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow spring in a cold frame. The seed usually germinates in 2 - 4 weeks at 18°c[7]. Easy[2]. 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[1]. 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[1]. Very easy, any part of the root will produce a new plant[2]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Campanula+rapunculoides>

Pollinators

Bees, Flies, Beetles, Lepidoptera, Self

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · 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.
  2. [2]Campanulas - their cultivation and classification. — Crook. H. Clifford. · Country Life · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive treatment of the genus yet written (2002).
  3. [3]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  4. [4]Campanulas - A Gardener's Guide. — Lewis. P. & Lynch. M. · B. T. Batsford. London. · 1998 · ISBN 0-7134-8266-4 ↩︎Very readable account of almost 150 members of the genus, together with their hybrids and cultivars, that are more commonly grown in gardens. Excellent photographs of many of the species.
  5. [5]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  6. [6]Perennial Garden Plants — Thomas. G. S. · 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.
  7. [7]Growing from Seed. Volume 3. — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1989 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.
  8. [8]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  9. [9]Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. — Polunin. O. · 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.
  10. [10]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  11. [11]Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. — Harrington. H. D. · 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.
  12. [12]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · 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.
  13. [13]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  14. [14]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of 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.
  15. [15]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · 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.
  16. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎