Harebell

A delicate blue bellflower that blooms on dry meadows all over Sweden – in 2021 Swedes chose it as their national flower.

The harebell is a low, graceful perennial with thin, wiry stems and nodding, bell-shaped, bluish-violet flowers. Its scientific name, rotundifolia, refers to its round basal leaves, which usually wither before the plant flowers – only narrow, linear leaves can be seen on the stem. It flowers from June to September on dry meadows, roadsides, rocks and in open woodland, from the lowlands to the high mountains. It is one of the most widespread bellflowers of the northern hemisphere.

Significance in the country

In a nationwide vote organised in 2021 by the Swedish Botanical Society, the “liten blåklocka” won the title of national flower. Swedes cherish it as a symbol of summer meadows and of the short, intense northern summer.

Where it grows

Throughout the country – from Skåne to Lapland – on dry meadows, verges, rocks and in open woodland; in the mountains it reaches the alpine zone.

More: Wikipedia (en) Wikipedia (pl)