Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Lobelia simplicicaulis
Common name
A lobelia
Family
Campanulaceae
Where found
Forest and woodland, often after fire or other disturbance. Mainly Kosciuszko National Park, the mountains to the north, and the ACT. Occasional elsewhere.
Notes
Annual herb to 0.9 m high. Stems hairless or sparsely warty, frequently red-tinged at least towards base. Leaves few, alternating up the stems, 0.6–6 cm long, 2–15 mm wide, sometimes red-tinged, margins usually with a few coarse teeth, rarely lobed, becoming smaller and the margins almost entire on leaves farther up the stem. Flowers dark blue, rarely white, 13–28 mm long, tubular, the tube split almost to the base on the upper side, 2-lipped, the upper lip with 2 shorter lobes, the lower lip with 3 spreading lobes, the middle lobe longest, 5–15 mm long, 1–6 mm wide. Flowers in a one-sided elongated cluster of 4-12 flowers. Flowering: mostly Oct.–Mar.
Family was Lobeliaceae.
The tall annual species of Lobelia are best distinguished by their seeds, beyond the coverage of this key.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lobelia~simplicicaulis (accessed 22 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
