| Author | Witasek | |
| Distribution | Formerly known as Campanula rotundifolia. Known only from the northwesternmost counties -- Ashe and Watauga. It was first discovered in the state in 1991.
This is a widespread boreal species in North America, ranging across Canada and the Northern states, from coast to coast. It ranges south down the Appalachians only to extreme northwestern NC; it is not yet known for KY or TN.
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| Abundance | Very rare, known from only single sites in each of the two counties. This is a State Endangered species. | |
| Habitat | In NC, it is known only from high elevation rocky summits, but only in high pH soil, over amphibolite rock. | |
| Phenology | Blooms in July and August, and fruits from August to September. | |
| Identification | This is a somewhat familiar species if you botanize in Canada and far northern states, but hardly anyone is familiar with it in the state. It is a slender and delicate plant, growing to about 1 foot tall, usually unbranched, or branched only from the base. It has scattered alternate leaves along the stem, these being very "wiry" as well -- linear and about 2 inches long and needle-like. The basal leaves are rounded, but quite small in size, and they wither before flowering. Each plant has only a handful of quite large flowers from the tip of the stem, and each is light blue to bright blue, bell-shaped, and about 2/3-inch long. In general, these flowers nod somewhat downward, and seem quite large for the slender stems below them. As the plants only grow on rocky summits at high elevations, reaching such plants in NC might be tough on footing, if not be somewhat dangerous. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | "Campanula [intercedens] is a northeastern North American species that is a component of the circumboreal Campanula rotundifolia species complex" (Weakley 2024). "The Campanula rotundifolia species complex or aggregate is the subject of active research, resulting in the recognition of separate species at various ploidies, morphologies, and distributions. See Shetler (1982) for a detailed, traditional study of the species." (Weakley 2024)
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| Other Common Name(s) | Bluebell, Bluebell Bellflower, Harebell. Many references simply call it "Harebell", but as most name C. divaricata as Southern Harebell, the name of Harebell needs a modifier word. | |
| State Rank | S1 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | E | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
