8694.000 Lobelia L.

Clarke, H. & Charters, M. (ed. Moll, E.) (2016) The Illustrated Dictionary of Southern African Plant Names Jacana Media, South Africa

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial herbs (in ours). Stems not twining. Leaves alternate. Bracteoles minute, ± linear, rarely 0. Flowers usually resupinate, zygomorphic. Corolla usually 2-lipped with upper lip 2-lobed, lower 3-lobed (rarely all petals form a single lip). (The terms 'upper' and 'lower' assume flowers are resupinate). Anthers (5) united into a tube; the two lower or all of them penicillate at tip, the two lower ones somewhat shorter than others. Ovary inferior to ± superior, 2-locular. Stigma lobes 2, surrounded by a ring of hairs. Fruit a capsule dehiscing by 2, rarely 4, apical valves; or, rarely indehiscent.

Derivation of name: after Mathias de L'Obel (Lobelius) (1538-1616), Flemish botanist, traveller and plant collector. (Clarke, Charters & Moll-Ed., 202, 2016).

Worldwide: c. 300 species in tropical and warm areas, a few temperate.

Botswana: 3 taxa.

Lobelia erinus

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
erinus L.N,SEDescription, Image
sonderiana (Kuntze) LammersN,SEDescription, Image
thermalis Thunb.SE

Other sources of information about Lobelia:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: Lobelia
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Lobelia
Flora of Malawi: Lobelia
Flora of Mozambique: Lobelia
Flora of Zambia: Lobelia
Flora of Zimbabwe: Lobelia
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Lobelia

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Lobelia
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Lobelia
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Lobelia
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Lobelia
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Lobelia
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Lobelia
JSTOR Plant Science: Lobelia
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Lobelia
Plants of the World Online: Lobelia
Tropicos: Lobelia
Wikipedia: Lobelia

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Botswana: Genus page: Lobelia.
https://www.botswanaflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1458, retrieved 28 March 2024

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