Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Lobelia dentata
Common name
Toothed lobelia
Family
Campanulaceae
Where found
Dry forest, woodland, heath, and rocky areas, often after fire. Widespread. No records from the Western Slopes.
Notes
Annual herb to 0.6 m high, hairless to sparsely warty. Stems often reddish. Leaves alternating up the stems, 0.6-4 cm long, 2-12 mm wide, the lower leaves numerous, withering early, margins deeply dissected; upper leaves few, narrow, dissected or toothed to entire. Flowers deep to royal blue or purple, throat paler, rarely white, 10–28 mm long, tubular, the tube split almost to the base on the upper side, 2-lipped, the upper lip with 2 short lobes, the lower lip with 3 spreading lobes, the lower middle lobe longest, 5–15 mm long, 1.2–5 mm wide. Flowers in a one-sided 4-13 flowered elongated cluster. Stalks on individual flowers 3–45 mm long. Flowering: most of the year.
The tall annual species of Lobelia are best distinguished by their seeds, beyond the scope of this key.
Family was Lobeliaceae.
Rare Vic.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lobelia~dentata (accessed 22 January, 2021)
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