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Campanula americana - "Tall Bellflower, Bluebell"

Campanulaceae Family - Campanula comes from the Latin campana and means "little bell". Americana means "of America" meaning the first identification of this species happened in America.

Many branches on a slender, straight stem produce these striking flowers blooming from June through the first frost. The plants can reach 6 feet and have alternating, hairy, lanceolate leaves with pointed tips. One of the few annuals in this genus.

From a distance it can be easily confused with Lobelia siphilitica.

Prefers rich, moist thickets and woods from Ontario and New York south to Florida, west to Louisiana and Oklahoma, and north to South Dakota and Minnesota.

A tea brewed from the leaves of this plant was occasionally used in early medicine to relieve persistent coughing. The Meskwaki of Iowa and the Upper Midwest used the same tea to treat consumption.

A European relative (C. rapunculoides), the "Rampion" is widely cultivated for the use of it's radish-like tuber and leaves in salads. Occasionally, we can find stands of that species here in Iowa due to its escape from early pioneer gardens.