This common perennial member of the bluebell family is found in Southern Canada and Northeastern United States.

It has a wiry, hair-like stem and linear leaves, though the leaves at the base can be rounded. The flowers are violet-blue in color and nod from the branch tips. The flower has five petals and five green sepals. The petals are papery thin and curved to form the 'bell'. The blooms are either solitary or in loose spikes.

Horizontal stems called rhizomes spread from the base of the plant, producing roots and shoots at short intervals. The plant grows 6-18 inches tall and is found growing in meadows, grassy places, on rocky slopes and in alpine areas. It can also grow on disturbed ground along roadsides and railroads and will do well in fixed sand dune areas. It grows from 4-15 inches tall.

The harebell is tolerant of a wide range of soil pH. It blooms from June to October. In Western PA, it is one of the latest blooming wildflowers. Bees are the primary pollinators of the harebell, but it may also self-pollinate. It is actually a circumpolar species, also growing in Northern Eurasia. It is also called the bluebell bellflower. In Scotland an old name for this plant is 'Witche's thimble'. It was once believed that witches could convert themselves into hares and it was bad luck to have one cross your path. The garden harebell (C. divaricata) sometimes escapes cultivation; it has flowers only on one side of the stem and heart-shaped basal leaves.