Pale-spike Lobelia

(Lobelia spicata)

 

Color Photograph: Paul Jackson, Cedar Creek Natural History Area, LTER, U.S. Dept. Energy and National Science Foundation.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Pale-spike Lobelia (Lobelia spicata)

Identification: Flowers typical of the lobelias with 5 petals fused into a basal tube. Three lower petal lobes projecting downward. Upper 2 petals curled upward. Flowers white to pale blue, in a crowded spike at the apex of the plant. Leaves elongate near the middle, becoming wider toward the base of the plant. Outer leaf margins smooth. Plant 1 to 4 feet in height.

Distribution: Throughout most of eastern North America and the central plains region.

Habitat: Pale-spike Lobelia is found meadows, fields, and thickets.

Flowering period: June to August.

Pale-spike Lobelia (Lobelia spicata)

Similar Species:

The arrangement of the white to pale blue flowers in a crowded terminal spike is characteristic of Pale-spike Lobelia.

Similar Species

No Similar Species