Home/Species/ Marsh Bellflower

Palustricodon aparinoides

(Pursh) Morin

Marsh Bellflower

G5Secure Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

LowThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.147441

Element CodePDCAM02030

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassDicotyledoneae

OrderCampanulales

FamilyCampanulaceae

GenusPalustricodon

Synonyms

Campanula aparinoidesPursh

Other Common Names

Campanule faux-gaillet (FR) marsh bellflower (EN)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Taxonomic Comments

This record is for a broad treatment of Palustricodon aparinoides (=Campanula aparinoides), including P. aparinoides var. grandiflorus (=C. aparinoides var. grandiflora and C. uliginosa), as recognized in Morin (2020), Kartesz (1994, 1999), and Gleason and Cronquist (1991). Haines (2024) supports treating P. aparinoides var. grandiflora as a distinct species, Palustricodon uliginosa, and thus a narrower P. aparinoides (=C. aparinoides of Fernald (1950) who recognized C. uliginosa). Weakley et al. (2025) follow Haines (2024).

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2024-08-07

Change Date1984-02-16

Edition Date2024-08-07

Edition AuthorsNordman, C. (2024).

Threat ImpactLow

Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences> 300

Rank Reasons

Marsh Bellflower occurs in eastern North America in the United States and Canada. There are estimated to be more than 1000 occurrences, including on various National Forests, State Forests, State Parks, and other conservation lands. It is threatened by land-use conversion and habitat fragmentation, invasive exotic species (such as Arthraxon hispidus, and Lythrum salicaria) are also threats.

Range Extent Comments

Marsh Bellflower occurs in eastern North America in the United States from New England south to the Southern Appalachians and Piedmont of Georgia, across the Midwest to Nebraska and the Dakotas, disjunct in Colorado and Wyoming, and in Canada from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to Ontario (as far north as James Bay), southern Manitoba, to eastern Alberta. Range extent was estimated to be 5.2 million square kilometers, using herbarium specimens and photo-based observations documented between 1993 and 2024 (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, Morin 2020).

Occurrences Comments

By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens and photo-based observation data documented between 1993 and 2024, it is estimated that there are more than 1000 occurrences of Marsh Bellflower rangewide (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024).

Threat Impact Comments

Threatened by land-use conversion and habitat fragmentation (Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project 2002). Invasive exotic species (such as Arthraxon hispidus, and Lythrum salicaria) are also threats.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Marsh Bellflower occurs in marshes, fens, wet meadows, cedar and tamarack swamps, seepage wetlands, and other wetlands, often with calcareous or mafic influence, at elevations of 50 meters in Connecticut and Quebec, up to 975 meters in North Carolina and West Virginia, and 2020 meters in Colorado (SEINet 2024).

Palustrine Habitats

HERBACEOUS WETLANDSCRUB-SHRUB WETLANDBog/fen

Other Nations (2)

CanadaN5

Province	Rank	Native
Quebec	SNR	Yes
Alberta	S1	Yes
Ontario	S5	Yes
Manitoba	S5	Yes
New Brunswick	S4	Yes
Nova Scotia	S3	Yes
Saskatchewan	S3	Yes

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
Rhode Island	SNA	No
South Dakota	SNR	Yes
Alabama	SNR	Yes
Wisconsin	SNR	Yes
Maine	SNR	Yes
Georgia	S1	Yes
Indiana	SNR	Yes
Iowa	S4	Yes
Minnesota	SNR	Yes
Vermont	S5	Yes
Wyoming	S1	Yes
West Virginia	S3	Yes
New York	S5	Yes
Missouri	S1	Yes
Massachusetts	SNR	Yes
Colorado	S1	Yes
Tennessee	S2	Yes
District of Columbia	SNR	Yes
Illinois	SNR	Yes
Ohio	SNR	Yes
Nebraska	SNR	Yes
New Jersey	S4	Yes
North Dakota	S2	Yes
Virginia	S4	Yes
Michigan	SNR	Yes
New Hampshire	SNR	Yes
Delaware	S2	Yes
Maryland	SNR	Yes
North Carolina	SNR	Yes
Connecticut	SNR	Yes
Kentucky	SNR	Yes
Washington	SNR	Yes
Pennsylvania	SNR	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
1 - Residential & commercial development	Small (1-10%)	Serious or 31-70% pop. decline	High (continuing)
1.1 - Housing & urban areas	Small (1-10%)	Serious or 31-70% pop. decline	High (continuing)
2 - Agriculture & aquaculture	Small (1-10%)	Serious or 31-70% pop. decline	High (continuing)
2.1 - Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Small (1-10%)	Serious or 31-70% pop. decline	High (continuing)
8 - Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Restricted (11-30%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)
8.1 - Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Restricted (11-30%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)

Plant Characteristics

DurationPERENNIAL

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (3)

Minnesota (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Baker - Homer - Brule Lakes	Superior National Forest	6,712
Wood Lake	Superior National Forest	596

Vermont (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bread Loaf	Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests	1,768

References (12)

Fernald, M. L. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. 8th edition. Corrected printing (1970). D. Van Nostrand Company, New York. 1632 pp.
Gleason, H.A., and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. 910 pp.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2024. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2024).
Haines, A. 2024a. A new combination in <i>Palustricodon </i>(Campanulaceae). Botanical Notes 18: 1-2.
iNaturalist. 2024. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2024).
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Kartesz, J.T. 1999. A synonymized checklist and atlas with biological attributes for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. First edition. In: Kartesz, J.T., and C.A. Meacham. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Lammers, T.G. 2007. Campanulaceae. In J.W. Kadereit & C. Jeffrey, vol. eds., VIII Flowering Plants - Eudicots. Asterales. In K. Kubitzki, ed., The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. pp.26-56.
Morin, N.R. 2020. Taxonomic changes in North American Campanuloideae (Campanulaceae). Phytoneuron 49: 1-46. Online. Available: https://www.phytoneuron.net/2020Phytoneuron/49PhytoN-Campanuloideae.pdf (Accessed 2024).
Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project. 2002. A partnership between the U.S. Forest Service-Region 8, Natural Heritage Programs in the Southeast, NatureServe, and independent scientists to develop and review data on 1300+ regionally and locally rare species in the Southern Appalachian and Alabama region. Database (Access 97) provided to the U.S. Forest Service by NatureServe, Durham, North Carolina.
Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2024. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2024).
Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2025. Flora of the southeastern United States Web App. Edition of February 18, 2025. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Online. Available: https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu (accessed 2025).

Palustricodon aparinoides

Habitat

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