Flora Pittsburghensis

Campanulaceae

Bellflower Family

This family is divided into three subfamilies, of which two include plants that grow in our area.

Campanuloideae

Venus’ Looking-Glass (Triodanis perfoliata). A cheerful and distinctive member of the Bellflower family that likes poor soil. Nothing else in our area has the combination of a columnar single stalk with clasping leaves and upward-facing violet-blue flowers. More commonly known in botanical literature under the genus Specularia, which is also called Legousia or Legouzia.

Creeping Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides). A European garden flower escaped from cultivation, often in yards of older homes where it had originally been planted. It is easily identified by its stalks of large dangling blue-violet bells, all arranged on one side of the stem.

American Bellflower (Campanula americana). Also known as Campanulastrum americanum by botanists who consider it a fake Campanula. A very tall bellflower usually found in damp areas. In addition to its height, the long white pistils with curled ends are distinctive. The blooming season begins in June or July, and the plants continue flower off and on until fall. In Father Pitt’s experience, it is neither rare nor common.

Lobelioideae

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis). By far our most striking Lobelia. The brilliant red of this spectacular native flower has made it a favorite in the perennial garden. In the wild, it’s most at home in damp areas with at least partial shade; it blooms in the middle of the summer, usually in July. It is worth tromping through any amount of muck to get pictures of this beautiful plant.

Great Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica). Sometimes called “Blue Cardinal Flower” because of its strong resemblance to its close relative the Cardinal Flower, L. cardinalis, with which this species apparently hybridizes. The flowers are variable in color: some are solid pale blue, some darker blue, and some strongly bicolored. A white form is found occasionally. Like the Cardinal Flower, this Lobelia likes damp situations

Lobelia spicata

Lobelia inflataIndian Tobacco (Lobelia inflata). This is by far our most common Lobelia, a close relative both of the little blue Lobelias that dangle from our hanging baskets and the stately Cardinal Flowers that adorn our perennial gardens. It likes an open woodland or the shady margin of a meadow, but it will also spring up in the middle of a sunny lawn given half a chance. The flowers are pale blue, often almost white. The species name inflata refers to the puffed-up seedpods that develop after the flowers.