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Balloon Flower🌸
Platycodon grandiflorus
キキョウ
One of the Seven Flowers of Autumn. A perennial that produces blue-purple star-shaped flowers from summer to early autumn. The buds are inflated and balloon-like (hence the English name Balloon Flower). Populations have declined in the wild, and the species is listed as Near Threatened in some regions. The root (kikyo root) is used in traditional Chinese medicine and is also edible.
Identification Points
- ✓Blue-purple star-shaped five-lobed flower
- ✓Buds are inflated like a balloon
- ✓Leaves are alternate to opposite or whorled, with serrated margins
- ✓White milky latex exudes when the stem is broken
Habitat
Sunny mountain meadows and grasslands
Season
July–September (flowers)
3D Specimen Model
Kyushu University, Shikano Lab (CC0)
View on Sketchfab→Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Leaf arrangement
Opposite
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Leaf shape
Ovate
Growth form
Herb
Petal count
5 petals
Petal fusion
Fused
Flower color
Purple
Flowering season
Summer–Autumn
Phylogenetic Positionキキョウ科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Asterales > Campanulaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene
Evolution Notes
The bellflower family is placed in Asterales. Its tubular to bell-shaped sympetalous flowers show evolutionary adaptation to specific pollinators.
View on evolution timeline →Sources & References
AI-generated, needs verification