Campanula uniflora L.
Campanulaceae, bluebell family.
Sp. Pl. 163.1753
Vegetative morphology. Plants perennial herbs; 5–10 cm high; with stems single or in loose clusters and unbranched. Taproot present. Roots pallid-brown. Ground-level or under-ground stems vertical and often branched. Aerial stems erect, or decumbent (or undulating); glabrous. Leaves distributed along the stems; alternate. Petioles present (slight), or absent; 0–5 mm long; glabrous. Leaf blade bases attenuate. Blades 10–35 mm long; 2–8 mm wide. Blades spreading; leathery (slightly); linear, or lanceolate (dark green); flat; veins pinnate. Blades adaxial surface glabrous. Blades abaxial surface glabrous. Leaf apices acuminate, or acute.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems present. Flowering stems conspicuously taller than the leaves; with leaves; glabrous. Flowers solitary (always, slightly nodding at anthesis); small, less than 5 mm in diameter or length, or medium-sized, 5–15 mm in diameter or length. Calyx sepals 5; free (from the top of the receptacle); 3.5–7 mm long. Calyx green; hairy (c.f. C. rotundiflora that has glabrous sepals). Petals fused; longer than the calyx (but only slightly); blue (a pale blue); 7–11 mm long (corolla 4–8 mm in diameter). Corolla campanulate (narrowly bell-shaped); 5-lobed. Stamens 5; free of the corolla; filaments glabrous. Anthers yellow; slender-cylindrical; 1.5–2 mm long. Receptacle 5–10 mm high. Gynoecia inferior. Carpels syncarpous; 3. Styles 1; 2.5–3.5 mm long. Stigmas per style 3. Placentation axile. Fruit with calyx persisting; dry; a capsule; dehiscent (opening by slits). Fruit 5–20 mm long (without the calyx); 0.4–0.7 mm wide; black (pale); hairy (sparsely villous). Seeds 100 (numerous); 0.9–1.2 mm long; brown; with surfaces smooth.
Chromosome information. 2n = 34. Sørensen and Westergaard in Löve and Löve (1948 Greenland); Löve and Löve (1956b Iceland, 1982a arctic Canada); Jørgensen et al. (1958 Greenland); Zhukova (1966 north eastern Asia); Knaben and Engelskjøn (1967 southern and northern Norway); Johnson and Packer (1968 northwestern Alaska ); Dalgaard (1989 western Greenland). Ploidy levels recorded 2x.
Distribution. Northern hemisphere distribution: North American (E. Asia and W. Europe); Greenland, Canada. Yukon, Northwest Territories Islands, Continental Northwest Territories, Nunavut Islands, Continental Nunavut, Northern Québec. Arctic, or alpine. Range in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago widespread. Rare. Arctic Islands: Baffin, Devon, Ellesmere, Axel Heiberg, Parry Islands (Melville), Banks, Victoria, Somerset, Southampton, Coats.
Ecology and habitat. Substrates: river terraces, ridges, cliffs; dry, or moderately well drained areas; calcareous; rocks, gravel, clay; with low organic content. Habitats: found on wet clay seeps and cliff ledges, granite, basalt talus, boulder ridges of stream beds, gravel old screes.
Illustrations. • Close-up of flower. Single flower with narrow sepals and five fused bell-shaped "campanulate" petals. Aiken. Norway. No Voucher. • Arctic Island Distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting and H. Solstad. 1999 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29th April 2003. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).
