Downy Lobelia

Lobelia puberula Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 152. 1803
Lobelia puberula var. glabella Hook. Bot. Mag. pi. 3292. 1834. Not Lobelia puberula var. glabella
Ell. 1817. Rapunlium puherulum Presl, Prodr. Mon. Lob. 23. 1836. Rapunlium puberulum var. globellum Presl, Prodr. Mon. Lob. 23. 1836. lobelia amaena A. DC. in DC. Prodr. 7; 377, in part. 1839.
lobelia glandulosa var. oblusifolia A. DC. in DC. Prodr. 7: 378. 1839. (Herb. DC, photo!) Dorimannia puberula Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 973. 1891. iMbelia puberula var. laeviuscula Molir, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 6: 750. 1901. (Based on Lobelia
puberula var. glabella Hook.) Ix/belia puberula var. mineolana F. E. Wimmcr, Rcpcrt. Sp. Nov. 26: 4. 1929. (Reverchon, isotype.
Mo. Bot. Gard.!) Lobelia puberula i. Candida Femald. Rhodora 41: 570. 1939. (Fernald 6Long 9631, Gray.)
Stem strict, usually unbranched, 30-100 (160) cm. high, up to about 7 mm. in diameter at base, green or sometimes with a purplish tinge throughout, darker below, densely shorthirsute throughout, or sometimes glabrate; cauline leaves few-40, hairy beneath and more or less strigose above, especially near the margins, the blades 1-2.5 cm. wide, 310 cm. long, mostly 2-4 times as long as wide, thin but fairly firm, varying from lanceolate, acute and subentire in outline, with prominent callose-denticulate teeth, to broadly obovale and obtuse, with coarse irregular serrations and inconspicuous callose teeth, the upper leaves merging gradually into the bracts of the inflorescence, becoming more finely toothed above; basal leaves none; inflorescence often distinctly secund, (few) 15-30 (50) cm. long, densely flowered or often somewhat intcrrujjted, bearing few-70 flowers; pedicels stout, puberulent or hirsute, .V5 mm. long in fruit, each with a pair of bracteoles at the base or somewhat above it ; flowerbracts various, often leafy; flower 15-24 mm. long, including hypanthium (averaging 18-20 mm.); corolla purplish-blue, with a white eye, varying to purplish-pink or white, pubescent at least on the veins without, the lip glabrous within, the tube 5-8 mm. long, fenestrate, the loljts of the lower lip oblong or ovate, usually somewhat shorter than the tube, acute or obtuse, the two upper lobes lanceolate, erect; filament-tube 6-7 mm. long (rarely 9 mm.), the filaments pubescent near base, connate about one-third their length; anther-tube 3-3.5 mir.. long, light bluish-gray, the two smaller anthers tufted at the tip, the three larger usually pubescent on the backs; hypaathium in anthesis flattish or short-hemispheric, more or less pubescent, or hirsute, becoming hemispheric in fruit, widest at the top, usually with a flaring rim, prominent ribs and a rough angular appearance, 5-9 mm. wide; capsule about half inferior, 4-7 mm. long; calyx-lobes lanceolate or broader, plainly broadest near the base, more or less straightsided, without definite subulate tips, 5-12 mm. long, usually ciliale at least near the tip, entire or callose-denticulate; auricles very small and triangular, or rounded and short, formed of the rolled edges and basal lobes of the cordate calj-x-lobes; seeds linear-oblong or ellipsoid, 0.5-0.7 mm. long.
TvPB locality: "Carolina."
Distribution: New Jersey to Illinois, south to central Florida, Oklahoma, and eastern Texas.

Lobelia puberula, or downy lobelia, is a perennial herbaceous wildflower in the Bellflower family (Campanulaceae) native to eastern and south central United States. It is the most common blue-flowered Lobelia in the Southeast. It grows in mesic (moderate moisture) to hydric (moist) habitats in sun or partial shade.