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Campanulaceae
Round-headed Rampion
Phyteuma orbiculare
The pride of the Sussex Downs.
- Family
- Campanulaceae
- Genus
- Phyteuma
- Native to
- Europe, chalk grasslands
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- perennial herb
- Height
- 0.5-2 ft
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- chalky, dry to moderately moist
- Water
- low
- Hardiness
- 5-8
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Round-headed rampion is the county flower of East Sussex in England, colloquially called 'the pride of Sussex' — it is restricted almost entirely to the South Downs chalk grasslands in Britain, where it is locally abundant.
- The globular, deep violet-blue flowerheads are formed from tightly-packed individual florets whose long, curved, initially fused tubes give the head a spiky, sea-urchin-like appearance before fully opening.
- Unlike its taller woodland relative (spiked rampion), round-headed rampion is a plant of open, sunny chalk turf — it thrives in short, species-rich grassland maintained by sheep and rabbits and disappears when scrub encroaches.
- The species was recorded by the Victorian botanist and illustrator Anne Pratt as one of the glories of summer on the South Downs, and it has been a conservation priority in Britain since the early 20th century.
- Phyteuma orbiculare is a characteristic species of the EU Habitats Directive's 'semi-natural dry grasslands' habitat, and its presence or absence is used as a key indicator of habitat quality in southern England.
Color meanings
0
regional pride
1
rarity
2
wildness