Campanula.

Campanula edulis Forsk. Campanulaceae. Bellflower.

Arabia. The root is thick, sapid and is eaten by children.

Campanula persicifolia Linn. Peach Bells.

Europe and north Asia. This plant has been used as food in England but has long since fallen into disuse. In France it is called cloche and is grown as a flowering plant.

Campanula rapunculoides Linn. Creeping Bellflower.

Europe and temperate Asia. This plant may be substituted in cultivation for rampion. It has long since fallen into disuse.

Campanula rapunculus Linn. Rampion.

Europe, Orient, north Africa and northern Asia. This biennial plant was formerly much cultivated in gardens for its roots as well as its leaves. Loudon says the latter are excellent, eaten raw as a salad or boiled as a spinach, and the root, which has the flavor of walnuts, is also eaten raw like a radish or mixed with salads, either raw or boiled and cold. It is much cultivated in France and Italy, says Johns.

Rampion is recorded in gardens by Pena and Lobel, 1570, and is figured by Tragus, 1552, Lobel, 1576, as well as by other writers of this period, as an improved root. In 1726, Townsend says it is to be found in only few English gardens; and Bryant, 1783, says it is much cultivated in France but in England is now little regarded. It is recorded in American gardens in 1806, 1819 and 1821. As late as 1877, an English writer says rampion is a desirable addition to winter salads.

Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.