Campanulaceae

Campanulaceae
Campanula cespitosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Campanulaceae Juss.
Genera
See text.

The family Campanulaceae (also bellflower family), of the order Asterales, contains about 70 genera and 2000 species. They are mostly herbs, shrubs, and more rarely small trees, which usually have milky non-toxic sap. The family includes the familiar garden plants Campanula (or bellflower), Lobelia, and the balloonflower (Platycodon.)

This family is almost cosmopolitan but concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere. However in the Southern Hemisphere, South Africa is remarkably rich in members of this family. These species are absent in the Sahara, Antarctica and northern Greenland.

Most current classifications include the segregate family Lobeliaceae in Campanulaceae, as subfamily Lobelioideae.

Morphology

Leaves of these species are often alternate, more rarely opposite. They are also simple and without stipules. Flowers are bisexual, bell-shape, consisting of a narrow tube-like corolla with small spreading lobes. Flowers are fairly often blue. Fruits are often berries, but can also be capsules.

Genera

External links

• Campanulaceae in Topwalks
• Campanulaceae in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. http://delta-intkey.com
• Family Campanulaceae Flowers in Israel