Asked July 15, 2025, 10:48 AM EDT
Hello, I'm reaching out about some seemingly atypical "creeping bellflower" that has been cropping up around my house. While I suspect it is indeed creeping bellflower, there are some particularly odd traits that seem counter to the standard description:
1) it's tall. Really tall. Minimum height is 4 feet, some stalks are 5+ feet. Most sources indicate that they clock in at 3" on the high end.
2) the rhizome seems smaller than expected
3) the pistil is split into a 6 pointed star rather than 3 points
4) no basal leaves
I have additional photos of these curious traits and discussion here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Minnesota_Gardening/s/wTapPPYztO
Some folks in the comments suggested the possibility of this being a hybrid; have you observed any similar such hybridization? Are the differences between what I'm seeing and the commonly documented traits just standard variance in the species?
Thanks for your time!
Hennepin County Minnesota