Wildflower (forb) · Campanulaceae
American bellflower
Campanulastrum americanum
American bellflower is recorded as native to 27 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 917 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
American bellflower at a glance
- Native in
- 917 counties, across 27 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b PLANTS minimum temperature 52°F
- Mature height
- 6 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 12b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 52°F; zone 12b winters bottom out at 55°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
American bellflower is recorded as native to 27 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 917 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 917 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 3 counties
- Arkansas 34 counties
- Florida 3 counties
- Georgia 9 counties
- Illinois 96 counties
- Indiana 83 counties
- Iowa 23 counties
- Kansas 42 counties
- Kentucky 67 counties
- Louisiana 2 counties
- Michigan 26 counties
- Minnesota 17 counties
- Mississippi 10 counties
- Missouri 111 counties
- Nebraska 19 counties
- New Jersey 2 counties
- New York 10 counties
- North Carolina 28 counties
- Ohio 81 counties
- Oklahoma 12 counties
- Pennsylvania 46 counties
- South Carolina 1 county
- South Dakota 4 counties
- Tennessee 56 counties
- Virginia 51 counties
- West Virginia 44 counties
- Wisconsin 37 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Annual
- Mature height
- 6 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.5 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 52°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 160
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Blue
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Contracting Only
- Family
- Campanulaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CAAM18
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Campanulastrum americanum (PLANTS symbol CAAM18).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources