Campanula exigua
Encyclopedia
The annual flower of the bluebell family
Campanula exigua has several common names, including chaparral bellflower, rock harebell, and Rattan campanula. It is a rare plant endemic
to California
and is found in a few isolated spots around Mount Diablo State Park
in the east Bay Area
. It grows out of rocky and gravel soils, sending up several long stems filled with milky sap and bearing sparse, tiny leaves. At the end of each stem grows a bell-shaped bright blue-violet flower.
As its common name suggests, chaparral bellflower is a member of the chaparral
ecosystem, where it grows amongst many other endemic shrubs on dry, fire-prone hillsides. It is one of few plants which thrives in serpentine soil
s.
Campanulaceae
The family Campanulaceae , of the order Asterales, contains about 2000 species in 70 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky non-toxic sap...
Campanula exigua has several common names, including chaparral bellflower, rock harebell, and Rattan campanula. It is a rare plant endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and is found in a few isolated spots around Mount Diablo State Park
Mount Diablo State Park
Mount Diablo is a mountain in Contra Costa County, California in the San Francisco Bay Area, located south of Clayton and northeast of Danville. It is an isolated upthrust peak of , visible from most of the San Francisco Bay Area and much of northern California...
in the east Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. It grows out of rocky and gravel soils, sending up several long stems filled with milky sap and bearing sparse, tiny leaves. At the end of each stem grows a bell-shaped bright blue-violet flower.
As its common name suggests, chaparral bellflower is a member of the chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...
ecosystem, where it grows amongst many other endemic shrubs on dry, fire-prone hillsides. It is one of few plants which thrives in serpentine soil
Serpentine soil
A serpentine soil is derived from ultramafic rocks, in particular serpentinite, a rock formed by the hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle....
s.