Wahlenbergia
(named after George Wahlenberg, of Upsala, 1780-1851, author of "Flora Lapponica," &c.). SYN. Schultesia (of Roth). Including Cervicina and Edraianthus. ORD. Campanulaceae. A large genus (nearly eighty species) of greenhouse or hardy, annual, perennial, or woody-stemmed herbs, mostly natives of the Southern hemisphere, especially South Africa; a few inhabit the tropics of America and the Old World, and the Mediterranean region; and one species is broadly distributed over Western Europe. Flowers often blue and nodding; calyx tube adnate, hemispherical, turbinate, or obconical-oblong, the limb five, rarely three or four-parted; corolla campanulate, tubular, sub-rotate, or funnel-shaped, the limb shortly or rarely deeply five-cleft, very rarely three or four-cleft; stamens free of the corolla; inflorescence often irregularly centrifugal; peduncles terminal, lateral, or axillary, solitary or variously paniculate. Capsules erect, inferior or half-superior. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite. The best-known species are here described. For culture, see Campanula.
W. albo-marginata (white-margined). A synonym of W. saxicola. W. capensis (Cape). fl. at first drooping, but at length nearly erect; corolla bluish-green outside, dark blue inside at the bottom, greenish at the origin of the violaceous lobes, spotted with black within the lobes at the recesses; peduncles elongated, one-flowered. July. l. ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, pilose, irregularly toothed, 1in. to 2in. long. Stem 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. high. Cape of Good Hope, 1819. Half-hardy annual. SYNS. Campanula capensis (B. M. 782), Roclla decurrens (A. B. R. 238).
W. capillacea (capillary). fl. in a terminal, leafless panicle, on pedicels; corolla blue, 1/2in. long, funnel-shaped. May. l. numerous, alternate, fascicled, linear-filiform, entire, 1/4in. to 1/2in. long. Stems erect, 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. high. South Africa, 1822. Greenhouse perennial. W. dalmatica (Dalmatian). A synonym of W. tenuifolia. W. gracilis (slender). Australian Harebell. fl. very variable in size and form; calyx three to five-lobed; corolla blue, purplish, or white, 1/6in. to 1/2in. long, three to five-lobed. April. l. 1/2in. to 2in. long; radical ones spathulate, petiolate, toothed; cauline ones sessile, linear-oblong, entire, toothed, or sinuate, acute or acuminate, rarely spathulate. Stem 6in. to 24in. high. New Zealand, &c., 1794. A slender, greenhouse annual. SYNS. Campanula capillaris (L. B. C. 1406), C. gracilis (B. M. 691; S. E. B. 45). W. hederacea (Ivy-like).* fl. one to a peduncle, leaf-opposed; corolla pale blue, 1/3in. long, the lobes recurved. July and August. l. all petiolate, orbicular or cordate, angled or obscurely lobed, 1/3in. to 1/2in. in diameter, the upper ones often opposite. Stems filiform, creeping. Europe (Britain). Annual. SYN. Campanula hederacea (Sy. En. B. 875).
W. Kitaibelii (Kitaibel's).* fl. disposed in terminal, bracteate group; corolla blue, with a tinge of purple; bracts acuminate, dentately sub-serrated. Summer. l., radical ones crowded, linear-subulate, remotely denticulate. Stems purplish, beset with soft pili. h. 6in. Transylvania. A tufted, hardy perennial. (B. M. 6188.) w. saxicola (rock-loving).* New Zealand Bluebell. fl. pale lilac, erect; corolla campanulate, thrice exceeding the calyx; scape solitary, long, one-flowered. June. l. all radical, usually rosulate, spathulate, long-attenuated to a flat, ciliated petiole, above usually hairy, entire or crenate-serrated, white and thickened on the margins. h. 2in. to 8in. New Zealand. Greenhouse perennial. (B. M. 6613.) SYNS. W. albo-marginata W. vincaeflora (L. & P. F. G. ii., fig. 142).
W. tenuifolia (slender-leaved).* fl. six to ten in a dense, terminal, bracteate tuft; calyx lobes bristly-ciliate; corolla violet-blue, white at the base. June and July. l. linear, entire, with bristly margins. Stems pilose, purplish, tufted. h. 3in. to 6in. Dalmatica, 1879. Hardy perennial. (B. M. 6482.) SYNS. W. dalmatica, Edraianthus tenuifolius.
W. tuberosa (tuberous-rooted).* fl. white, marked on the outside with bright rose-red bands, numerous at the tips of the paniculate branches, 1/2in. long, campanulate, erect. Summer. l. linear, acute, spreading, 1in. long, one-nerved. Stems slender, erect, 6in. to 2ft. high, loosely branched. Juan Fernandez, 1875. A remarkably floriferous, tuberous-rooted, greenhouse perennial. (B. M. 6155; R. G. 1877, p. 213.) W. vincaeflora (Periwinkle-flowered). A synonym of W. saxicola.