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Volume IV (1988) - Flora of New Zealand Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons
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Lobelia L.

LOBELIA L.

Mostly annual or perennial herbs, occasionally monocarpic and giant in stature, rarely shrubs. Lvs alternate; cauline lvs sometimes reduced to bracts, toothed or entire; sap sometimes acrid. Infl. a terminal raceme, spike or panicle, sometimes fls solitary. Fls usually ⚥. Calyx with short, often globular, tube adnate to ovary. Corolla oblique and 2-lipped; tube split to base on 1 side; limb 2-lipped with upper lip 2-lobed and lower lip 3-lobed. Stamens not epipetalous; filaments free; anthers united into a tube around style, 2 or all of them hairy at tips. Ovary 2-celled; stigma ± 2-lobed. Capsule 2-valved, dehiscing loculicidally. Seeds numerous, minute.

Key

1
Plant a dense bushy annual, sometimes with some stems semi-trailing; lower lip of corolla c. 7 mm long, with middle lobe c. 5 mm wide
1. *erinus
Plants prostrate to suberect, usually perennial, not becoming densely bushy; lower lip of corolla 5 mm long or, if more, then middle lobe much < 5 mm wide
2
2
Stems ascending to sprawling; lvs entire or slightly toothed; capsule elongate
2. anceps
Stems creeping and rooting, sometimes submerged in rock debris; lvs distinctly, and usually coarsely, toothed; capsule broad
3
3
Stems sparingly branched; lvs orbicular, usually < 8 mm diam., sinuate-dentate; peduncles very slender, 5-10 cm long
3. linnaeoides
Stems much-branched; lvs elliptic to oblong or obovate, mostly > 12 mm long, deeply cut; peduncles stout, to 5 cm long
4. roughii

350-400 spp., temperate and subtropical regions, also tropical montane areas. Native spp. 3, naturalised 1.

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