Campanula raineri is native to the Bergamo region in northern Italy and into Switzerland where it inhabits limestone cliffs. The rootstock is woody and it spreads by fine runners. It forms tufts of small, gray, rhomboidal, finely dentate leaves that are stemless or virtually so. Flowering stems are 5 - 7.5 cm tall with narrow, crenate (with rounded teeth)-to-serrate leaves. The flowers are large and mostly solitary and are held upturned; shape varies from campanulate (bell-shaped) with reflexed rounded lobes, to infundibular (funnel-shaped) with pointed lobes; colour ranges from dark to lavender blue, with a dark blue (nearly black) spot at the base of the petals. The plant is deciduous. Grows well in cultivation in limestone substrates and screes.

Ref.: Dwarf Campanulas and Associated Genera, Graham Nicholls, 2006; Alpine Plants of Europe - A Gardener's Guide, Jim Jermyn, 2005.

Considered a very choice alpine, yet not necessarily difficult to grow. Photos of well-grown plants show flowers that appear virtually stemless.

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