Campanula marginata Thunberg in Murray, Syst. Veg., ed. 14, 211. 1784; Adenophora microsperma Y. Y. Qian; Campanopsis marginata (Thunberg) Kuntze; Wahlenbergia gracilis (G. Forster) A. Candolle var. misera Hemsley.

Herbs, perennial. Roots elongate, carrotlike. Stems erect or ascending, 10-40 cm, branched at base, glabrous or sparsely hirsute below. Leaves alternate, mostly on lower part of stem, lowermost sometimes caducous, sessile or with petiole up to 7 mm; blade spatulate, oblanceolate, elliptic, or linear, 10-40 × 2-8 mm, glabrous or sparsely hirsute, margin sinuate, sparsely serrulate, or entire. Pedicels erect, terminal and sometimes axillary, slender, up to 20 cm. Hypanthium obovoid or conic, glabrous. Calyx lobes triangular or subulate. Corolla blue, broadly campanulate, 3-12 mm, cleft for 1/3-2/3 its length; lobes obovate, oblong, or narrowly oblong. Capsule obconic, obovoid, or subglobose, 3-8 mm, 3-locular. Seeds yellow-brown or dark brown, oblong or ellipsoid, slightly compressed, 0.3-0.5 mm, smooth. Fl. and fr. Feb-May. 2n = 36, 72.

Wastelands, fields, slopes, streams; lower elevations (to 2800 m in Yunnan). Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Japan (including Ryukyu Islands), Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam; naturalized in the Pacific islands (Hawaiian Islands) and North America].