Harebell
Campanula rotundifolia. Campanula Family.
Stem.--Slender; branching; from five to twelve inches high. Root-leaves.--Heart-shaped or ovate; early withering. Stem-leaves.--Numberous; long and narrow. Flowers.--Bright blue; nodding from hair-like stalks. Calyx.--Five-cleft; the lobes awl-shaped. Corolla.--Bell-shaped; five-lobed. Stamens.--Five. Pistil.--One, with three stigmas.
This slender, pretty plant, hung with its tremulous flowers, springs from the rocky cliffs which buttress the river as well as from those which crown the mountain. I have seen the west shore of the Hudson bright with its delicate bloom in June, and the summits of the Catskills tinged with its azure in September. The drooping posture of these flowers protect their pollen from rain or dew. They have come to us from Europe, and are identical, I believe, with the celebrated Scotch bluebells.