BLUE LOBELIA
File Size: 98 KB
 
Lobelia siphilitica  L.
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 1-3 feet
Family: Campanulaceae - Bellflower family
Flowering Period:   August, September,October
Stems: Erect, stout, simple or sometimes branched, leafy, glabrous or slightly hairy.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, oblong to lanceolate, 1 to 6 inches long, .25 to 1.75 inch wide, glabrous or slightly pubescent; margins irregularly toothed; tips pointed; upper leaves reduced in size.
Inflorescences: Racemes, 4 to 20 inches long, 3-60-flowered, terminal; bracts leaf-like below, reduced above.
Flowers: 5-lobed; calyx bell-shaped, glabrous or bristly hairy, lobes persistent; corollas about 1 inch long, bright blue to pale blue with white stripes at throat; lower lobes 3, prominent; upper lobes 2, erect or curving backward.
Fruits: Capsules, spherical to cup-shaped, about 1/4 inch long; seeds oval, chestnut-brown.
Habitat: Moist soils of seeps, marshes, and stream banks.
Distribution: East 2/3 of Kansas.
Comments: The Cherokee steeped leaves of blue lobelia to make teas used to treat colds, fevers, and rheumatism.
 Blue lobelia is related to cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis).

Blue lobelia flowers
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Blue lobelia flowers
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Blue lobelia flowers
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Blue lobelia bracts and throat stripes
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Blue lobelia leaves
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Blue lobelia leaves
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Blue lobelia
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Leavenworth County, Kansas
Blue lobelia habit
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Leavenworth County, Kansas
Blue lobelia inflorescence
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Leavenworth County, Kansas
Blue lobelia leaves
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Blue lobelia leaf
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Blue lobelia
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas