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Wahlenbergia hederacea
Genus of flowering plants From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Wahlenbergia hederacea, also known as the ivy-leaved bellflower, is a species of flowering plant that is found throughout Europe. The delicate, patch-forming, hairless perennial herb has thin, creeping stems about 20 cm in length. Its pale green leaves are long-stalked and have an ivy-shaped, rounded structure. These leaves can be described as having a cordate shape and are approximately 5–12 mm long and wide. The plant has erect, solitary, pale blue flowers in summer and autumn,[2] with bell-shaped corolla with 5 short lobes.[3] The flowers are 6–10 mm long x 5–8 mm wide[4] and sit on fine stalks 1–4 cm long. It is suggested that the long pedicels are an adaptation to assist in seed dispersal.[5]
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Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus who gave it the name Campanula hederacea in his Species Plantarum.[6][7] In 1827, Ludwig Reichenbach transferred the species to Wahlenbergia as W. hederacea in his Iconographia Botanica.[1][8]
Habitat
Wahlenbergia hederacea is found in cool, moist and boggy, partially-shaded areas,[3] typically with acidic soils, such as woodlands, streams, pastures, heaths and beside rivulets. The plant thrives in short-grassed areas beside streams, with moist, acidic soils, and is almost never found in basic soils and stagnant water.[9] They usually occur in small, scattered groups. The abundance of the ivy-leaved bellflower has been declining throughout the 1900s due to the loss of their habitat.[5]
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Distribution
Wahlenbergia hederacea is native to Europe and commonly found in southern England, and Wales,[10] but also in North West England, Western Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Western Germany, Spain, and Portugal.[9]
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