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Plant Profile

Robins' Bellflower (Campanula robinsiae)

Campanula robinsiae flower, and leaf detail. Photo Credit: Bok Tower Gardens

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Campanulaceae
State: FL
Nature Serve ID: 140306
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

The Brooksville Bellflower is an annual herb first found in the Chinesgut hill area of Hernando County, Florida in 1924. Campanula robinsiae was federally listed as endangered in 1989. Since that time, regular monitoring indicates that the number of plants within populations fluctuates greatly. Brooksville Bellflower resides specifically in the transitional zone between the low and high water mark around pond edges. Fluctuations in water level have a great impact on the number of individuals witnessed in a population from year to year. Overall, C. robinsiae is a small herbaceous annual; remaining less than 15 cm in height. The leaves are lance shaped from 5-15 mm in width, entirely to faintly toothed, with the larger leaves at the base of the plant. This makes the Brookesville Bellflower nearly half the size of the only other bellflower found in Florida, C. floridana. The majority of the flowers produced by C. robinsiae remain closed and are self pollinated. Outcrossing flowers are solitary, deep purple, 7-8 mm wide, with 1-2.5mm long sepals. Flowering is more dependent on rain levels than time of year. The seeds produced by this species are the smallest of any bellflower in North America (Shetler and Morin 1986).

Where is Robins' Bellflower (Campanula robinsiae) located in the wild?

Habitat:

C. robinsiae resides specifically in wet prairies, seepage areas, and/or the transitional zone between the low and high water mark around pond edges (USFWS 1994). The occurrence of C. robinsiae seems highly dependent on ground water levels in the area.

Distribution:

Currently, there are three known populations of C. robinsiae. Two are in Hernando County Florida, one near Chinesgut hill, and another to the north on private property. Several populations in the gene

States & Provinces:

Robins' Bellflower can be found in Florida

Which CPC Partners conserve Robins' Bellflower (Campanula robinsiae)?

Bok Tower Gardens

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

Tina Stanley

05/11/2023

According to a March 2023 extract of the Florida Plant Rescue Database, Bok Tower Gardens holds 27 accessions of Campanula robinsiae totalling approximately 22 seeds.

Cheryl Peterson

11/19/2022

Brooksville Bellflower, Campanula robinsiae, is a tiny, short-lived annual in the Campanulaceae family. It grows only between the high and low water levels of pond margins and ephemeral wetlands, germinating in moist soil in late February or early March after winter rains and senescing by early April when the pond margins begin to dry out again. Seeds are produced in capsules that are typically no more than three inches above the wet, mucky soil. The seeds are very tiny, nearly invisible to the naked eye, and are available only for a short, roughly 1-2 week, window. Over the years we have optimized our seed collection method, which is to gently tap the capsules against a white sheet of paper. Ripe seeds are delivered onto the paper through a hole in the capsule that forms during seed ripening, and this gentle method retrieves ripe seeds without harm to the plant. The paper then can be used as a funnel to pour the seeds into a vial with an air-tight lid. In March 2022, over 1,000 seeds were collected using this method from 23 parent plants from a population in the Withlacoochee State Forest. Because of their tiny size, direct seed counting is not feasible, and estimates are made through the volumes present in the collection tubes. Seeds were then dried to 25% Rh using compressed nitrogen, then sent to NLGRP for long-term, cryogenic storage.

09/03/2020

Phylogenetic assessment and biogeographic analyses of the tribe Peracarpeae (Campanulaceae) by Zhou et al. was published in 2012. C. robinsiae was included in their phylogentic tree.

09/03/2020

Seed morphology of North American Campanulaceae including Campanula robinsiae was examined in 1986 by Shetler and Morin and published in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden

09/03/2020

Germination trials have been conducted at Bok Tower Gardens

09/03/2020

One population is in a state park and is managed there as a wetland species. Habitat analysis and population surveys are done by Bok Tower Gardens annually.

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Florida endemic known only from Hernando County. There are 3 known sites where this speicies occurs, 2 of these are publicly owned but are not managed for the species. Any change in the quality or quantity of runoff from surrounding watersheds could eliminate the plant. Displacement by skunk vine (Paederia foetida) is an increasing problem.

Glen Bupp

01/01/2010

Brooksville Bellflower is threatened by residential and agricultural development. Alteration of water flow across wet prairies also impacts populations by changing water flow patterns and/or introducing contaminated runoff. Collection and vandalism may al

Glen Bupp

01/01/2010

Hillsborough County population = 384 individuals Two Hernando County populations total = 161 individuals

Glen Bupp

01/01/2010

Germination trials have been conducted at Bok Tower Gardens. Seed morphology of North American Campanulaceae including Campanula robinsiae was examined in 1986 by Shetler and Morin and published in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Phylogenetic assessment and biogeographic analyses of the tribe Peracarpeae (Campanulaceae) by Zhou et al. was published in 2012. C. robinsiae was included in their phylogentic tree.

Glen Bupp

01/01/2010

One population is in a state park and is managed there as a wetland species. Habitat analysis and population surveys are done by Bok Tower Gardens annually.

Glen Bupp

01/01/2010

What are the effects of cattle grazing on this species What are the life history needs What are the microhabitat requirements What are the effects of severe temperature changes i.e. freezing on germination What are the effects of fluctuating water levels on germination What is the genetic variability within and among C. robinsiae populations

Glen Bupp

01/01/2010

Maintain ex-situ seed collection.