Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Lobelia puberula
FAMILY
Campanulaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Downy Lobelia at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lobelia puberula var. puberula
FAMILY
Campanulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Keys, distribution, and taxonomic notes for the lobelias (Lobelia, Campanulaceae) of Alabama and adjacent states (Spaulding & Barger, 2016)
Lobelia puberula
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lobelia puberula var. mineolana
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lobelia puberula var. pauciflora
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lobelia puberula var. puberula
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lobelia puberula var. simulans
SYNONYMOUS WITH Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Lobelia puberula
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 178-06-006:
Lobelia puberula FAMILY Campanulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lobelia puberula
COMMON NAME:
Downy Lobelia, Hairy Lobelia
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm210413_9471
April Greenville County SC
Blackwell Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm190618_9256
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Leaves elliptic to oblanceolate, coarsely to finely dentate to serrate, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm120704_526
July Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm190719_9954
July Transylvania County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm0508g_20b
August Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm120830_154b
August Henderson County NC
Holmes Educational Forest
Lobelia lvs w obscure whitish callus-tipped & oft irregular or divergent teeth, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm140816_770
August Jackson County NC
High Hampton Inn
Flowers borne in racemes [thus the terminal flowers mature last], per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Steve Marlow snm140816_046
August Jackson County NC
High Hampton Inn
Flowers lack the inflated tube and striping of L. siphilitica, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm0409b_27b
September Greenville County SC
Roadside
A fine-hairy stem and a one-sided raceme of purplish-blue flowers 3/4" long, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm0409b_27c
September Greenville County SC
Calyx lobes lanceolate, rarely linear, 5-10mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0409b_28
September Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm210903_3239
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm210903_3318
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Margins of calyx lobes ciliate; corolla densely pubescent on the outside, per Keys, distribution, and taxonomic notes for the lobelias of Alabama and adjacent states (Spaulding & Barger, 2016).
)
JK Marlow jkm210903_3318b
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Flowers fenestrate (with a slit or window on each side of the tube near the base), per Weakley's Flora (2022).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Lobelia puberula
FAMILY
Campanulaceae
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lobelia puberula var. puberula
FAMILY
Campanulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Keys, distribution, and taxonomic notes for the lobelias (Lobelia, Campanulaceae) of Alabama and adjacent states (Spaulding & Barger, 2016)
Lobelia puberula
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lobelia puberula var. mineolana
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lobelia puberula var. pauciflora
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lobelia puberula var. puberula
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Lobelia puberula var. simulans
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Lobelia puberula
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 178-06-006:
Lobelia puberula
FAMILY
Campanulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lobelia puberula
855
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: forests, openings, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Blue-violet
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
2-lipped 5-lobed corolla
5 stamens, completely united
Bisexual
Flowers in a terminal raceme
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p195
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p122
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p121
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p114
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p184
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p052
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p402
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) P103
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p145
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p258
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p301
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p169
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p148
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".