Friday 11 May 2012

Campanulaceae


The family Campanulaceae (also bellflower family), of the order Asterales, contains about 2000 species in 70 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky non-toxic sap. Among them are the familiar garden plants Campanula (bellflower), Lobelia, and Platycodon (balloonflower).
This family is almost cosmopolitan but concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere. However in the Southern Hemisphere, South Africa is remarkably rich in members of this family. These species are absent in the Sahara, Antarctica and northern Greenland.

Most current classifications include the segregate family Lobeliaceae in Campanulaceae as subfamily Lobelioideae.