Raiponce

Description

Phyteuma spicatum, the spiked rampion, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is common across much of Europe. Its common names include raiponce en épi (French), ährige Teufelskralle (German), ährige Rapunzel (Swiss German), and Raponzolo giallo (Italian). Found in diverse types of forest, especially broadleaf beech forests, but also coniferous forests, as well as prairies, along forest roads, in logging clearings. The leaves, roots, and flowers are edible, and can be eaten raw. Flowers before blooming can for instance be prepared by steaming or boiling briefly, then seasoned. Phyteuma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Campanulaceae, native to Europe and Morocco. The common name is rampion, a name shared with the related plant Campanula rapunculus. Rampion features prominently in some versions of the fairy tale Rapunzel. In the version collected by the Brothers Grimm, it is said that "rapunzel" is the name given to a local variety of rampion. The species are herbaceous perennial plants, growing to 5–90 cm tall. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, and vary in shape on a single plant, with larger, broader leaves at the base of the stem and smaller, narrower leaves higher up; the leaf margin is serrated. The flowers are produced in dense erect panicles, each flower with a narrow, deeply five-lobed corolla, 1–2 cm or more long), mostly purple, sometimes pale blue, white or pink. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous small seeds.