Lobelia inflata - (image 1 of 4)
Taxonomy
Family: Lobeliaceae
Habitat
Open woods, edge of fields, and along shaded trails.
Associates
Distribution
New England west to MN, and south GA to LA.
Morphology
Sparsely branching, herbaceous annual to 1 m high. Stems hairy. Leaves alternate, sessile or nearly so, serrate, hairy or sometimes glabrous above. Flowers in terminal racemes; corollas blue or white, 5-lobed, to 8 mm long, the lower lip bearded; calyx not auriculate; stamens 5. Hypanthium inflated at maturity.
Notes
Flowers July to October.
Wetland indicator: Facultative Upland
Considered toxic, this plant contains the alkaloid lobeline which is similar to nicotine in activity.
Bibliography
Gleason, Henry A.
and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States
and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY.
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
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Michael Hough © 2009 |