Campanula cochlearifolia
Campanula cochlearifolia Lam.
Campanula pusilla Haenke1
Campanulaceae – Bellflower family
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B1ab(ii,iii)+2ab(ii,iii)].
Morphology and biology. Caespitose perennial. Stems 3–25 cm tall, ascending or erect. Leaves irregularly incise-serrate, basal ovate to rounded, long petiolate; cauline subsessile. Flowers 1–3, terminal; flower buds pending; corolla campanulate, blue, rarely white. Capsule coriaceous with many dark brown seeds. Fl. VII–VIII, fr. VIII–X. Insect pollinated. Reproduces by seeds and rhizomatous shoots.
Habitats and populations. Grows in rocky limestone places (rock crevices and terraces) on shallow, poorly developed soils, from the coniferous forests belt to the alpine belt, in communities of Festuca dalmatica, Paronychia kapela, Saxifraga oppositifolia, Globularia cordifolia, Leontopodium alpinum, etc. Forms fragmented populations; subpopulations are relatively isolated from each other.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Pirin Mts (northern – Vihren and Sinanitsa peaks, Bayuvi Doupki cirque); between 1800 and 2900 m alt.
General distribution. W, C and SE Europe.
Threats. The active mountain tourism and trampling outside of the tourist trails cause habitat deterioration and have negative effects on the population and species reproduction. Potential threats are natural disasters (fires, avalanches, land sliding).
Conservation measures taken. The localities are within Pirin National Park and Bayuvi Dupki - Dzhindzhiritsa Strict Nature Reserve, as well as in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Investigation into the species’ reproductive biology and possibilities for ex situ cultivation; deposition of seeds to the National Seed Genebank in Bulgaria.
References. Penev 1984; Ančev (in press).
Authors: Valentina Goranova & Mincho Anchev
