Spiked Rampion

Description:

Spiked Rampion is an herbaceous perennial plant, belonging to the bellflower family Campanulaceae. It produces a basal rosette of serrate leaves, and an erect flowering shoot some 40 to 50 cm tall. The inflorescence is terminal, unusual in shape - somewhat cylindrical, with cream-whitish flowers; appearing shaggy when flowers start to open.

Habitat:

Endemic to Europe, and very common in sub-alpine regions of Central Europe (France, Switzerland...). It does not like shade and is usually found in well-lit parts of woodlands and meadows. Here, observed in a Natural Reserve of Bois du Faisan, on banks of a river and clearings in a mainly deciduous-tree forest close to Geneva. The reserve itself is close to France-Switzerland border, in a valley of lake Geneva, just in between Jura and Alps mountains ranges.