Wahlenbergia is a genus of between 150-270 species of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s in the family Campanulaceae

Campanulaceae

The family Campanulaceae , of the order Asterales, contains about 2000 species in 70 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky non-toxic sap...

, with a cosmopolitan distribution

Cosmopolitan distribution

In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...

 except for North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

; the highest species diversity is in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and Australasia

Australasia

Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...

. Wahlenbergia species have dispersed widely, even to oceanic islands, and there are four species known from the island of St Helena, including the now extinct species W. roxburghii

Wahlenbergia roxburghii

Wahlenbergia roxburghii is an extinct member of a group of four species of Wahlenbergia once known from the island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean...

.

Selected species

Africa

• Wahlenbergia androsacea (South Africa)
• Wahlenbergia capillacea (South Africa)
• Wahlenbergia lobelioides (Canary Islands, Madeira)
• Wahlenbergia perrieri (endemic to Madagascar
  Madagascar
  The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
  
  )
• Wahlenbergia rivularis (South Africa)
• Wahlenbergia undulata (South Africa; Giant Bellflower)

Asia

• Wahlenbergia gracilis
  Wahlenbergia gracilis
  Wahlenbergia gracilis is an Asian wildflower from the Campanulaceae family. It also grows on western Pacific Ocean islands.- See also :* List of vascular plants of Norfolk Island* Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest* Flora of the Houtman Abrolhos...
  
  (also western Pacific Ocean islands)
• Wahlenbergia hirsuta (Himalaya)
• Wahlenbergia marginata (China, Himalaya)
• Wahlenbergia peduncularis (Himalaya)

Australia

• Wahlenbergia ceracea (Waxy Bluebell)
• Wahlenbergia communis (Tufted Bluebell)
• Wahlenbergia consimilis
• Wahlenbergia gloriosa
  Wahlenbergia gloriosa
  Wahlenbergia gloriosa, or Royal Bluebell, is an Australian wildflower from the Campanulaceae family. It grows in high rainfall areas in the Australian Alps, in environs ranging from shady roadside cuttings on Mount Hotham to full sun herbfields on the main range.W. gloriosa has small dark green...
  
  (Royal Bluebell)
• Wahlenbergia gracilis
  Wahlenbergia gracilis
  Wahlenbergia gracilis is an Asian wildflower from the Campanulaceae family. It also grows on western Pacific Ocean islands.- See also :* List of vascular plants of Norfolk Island* Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest* Flora of the Houtman Abrolhos...
  
  (Sprawling Bluebell)
• Wahlenbergia multicaulis
• Wahlenbergia saxicola (Rock Bluebell)
• Wahlenbergia stricta
  Wahlenbergia stricta
  Wahlenbergia stricta, or Australian Bluebell, Tall or Austral Bluebell, is an Australian wildflower from the Campanulaceae family. It is considered the most commonly encountered of the Wahlenbergias. It is found in all Australian states but not the Northern Territory. It is often seen growing by...
  
  (Australian Bluebell, Tall or Austral Bluebell)

Europe

• Wahlenbergia hederacea (Ivy-leaved Bellflower)
• Wahlenbergia nutabunda

New Zealand

• Wahlenbergia albomarginata
• Wahlenbergia cartilaginea
• Wahlenbergia congesta
• Wahlenbergia matthewsii
• Wahlenbergia tuberosa

South America

• Wahlenbergia berteroi (Juan Fernandez Islands)
• Wahlenbergia fernandeziana (Juan Fernandez Islands)
• Wahlenbergia grahamiae (Juan Fernandez Islands)
• Wahlenbergia larraini (Juan Fernandez Islands)
• Wahlenbergia linarioides
• Wahlenbergia peruviana

St Helena (South Atlantic Ocean)

• Wahlenbergia angustifolia
  Wahlenbergia angustifolia
  Wahlenbergia angustifolia is a species of plant in the Campanulaceae family. It is endemic to Saint Helena. Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It is endangered because of habitat loss.-References:...
  
  
• Wahlenbergia burchellii
• Wahlenbergia linifolia
  Wahlenbergia linifolia
  Wahlenbergia linifolia is a species of plant in the Campanulaceae family. It is endemic to Saint Helena. Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...
  
  
• Wahlenbergia roxburghii
  Wahlenbergia roxburghii
  Wahlenbergia roxburghii is an extinct member of a group of four species of Wahlenbergia once known from the island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean...
  
  

External links

• plantnet page on wahlenbergia