Perennial of the Campanulaceae family, native to the Alps and the Carpathians, where it is widely spread in alpine and subalpine meadows, heathlands with ericaceous plants, and high-altitude pastures, between approximately 1,000 and 2,800 meters. It is found in Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, and neighboring alpine countries.
It forms rather loose basal rosettes, bearing erect stems 15 to 35 cm in height. The leaves are oblong to lanceolate, slightly wavy at the edges, covered with a soft, whitish pubescence that gives them a characteristic velvety appearance.
The flowers, nodding and arranged in unilateral clusters at the top of the stems, are in elongated bell shape, from pale lavender blue to lilac-blue, remarkably fringed inside with long, well-visible white hairs, which gives it its epithet barbata. This detail, observable to the naked eye, is quite distinctive within the genus.
In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from June to August depending on the altitude. In cultivation, it generally blooms from June to July.
It prefers an acidic to neutral, well-drained soil, cool in summer, in full sun or light partial shade. It adapts to rock gardens and alpine gardens, but sometimes proves capricious in cultivation, behaving more like a biennial than a true perennial.