Family : Campanulaceae
Text © Alessandro Bordin
English translation by Mario Beltramini
Despite its look, the Phyteuma orbiculare is closely akin to the bellflowers © Giuseppe Mazza
Scientific name: Phyteuma orbiculare L. (1753).
Subspecies: the shape of the leaves, its length as well as that of the petioles and the shape of the bracts has permitted to identify six subspecies.
Phytogeographic type: South European orophyte.
Habitat: meadows and pasturelands, mostly on calcareous rocky substratum at an altitude included between 600 and 2.400 m.
Blossoming: June-August.
Brief description. Perennial plant. Stem: upright, simple, glabrous, tall up to 50 cm. Inferior leaves: spatulate and petiolate (length up to 5 cm), finely serrate. Caulinar leaves: lanceolate, petiolate at the beginning, then sessile. Flowers: the stem carries an inflorescence with a globose head. The flowers are alternated by triangular-lanceolate bracts. The violet-blue petals form a tube as united at the tip, where is present an opening for the exit of the style. Fruit: capsule containing many seeds.
Possibility of confusion with other species: none.
Synonyms : Phyteuma fistulosum Rchb.; Phyteuma tenerum Rich.Schulz subsp. anglicum Rich.Schulz; Phyteuma cordifolium Vill.