Flower:

Flowers are solitary, sometimes nodding, on long slender stalks at the end of branching stems. Flowers are ¼ to ½ inch long, white or pale blue with 5 flaring petals pointed at the tip and fused near the base, creamy white stamens, and a long divided style curled at the tips. The petals are veined with pale blue to grayish white.

Leaves and stem:

Leaves have tiny, often widely spaced teeth around the edges, pointed tips, are slightly rough around the edges and along the midrib on the underside from tiny hooked hairs, and have little or no leaf stalk. Leaves of var. aparinoides are to 1½ inches long and ¼ inch wide, or about 6 times as long as wide.

Leaves of var. grandiflora are up to 2½ inches long and more linear, to 12 times as long as wide. Stems are weak, 3 sided with hooked hairs that grab onto surrounding vegetation and help support the plant.

Fruit:

Fruit is a globular, ribbed capsule about 1/6 inch long with 3 sections.

Notes:

Minnesota has 2 varieties of Marsh Bellflower, var. aparinoides and var. grandiflora (formerly known as Campanula uliginosa) but the Herbarium records do not always distinguish them. The flowers are much the same between the 2, though the latter is minutely larger; the primary difference is the leaves as described above. Due to its weak stems, Marsh Bellflower typically sprawls along the ground and tangles itself up in neighboring plants.