Lobelia spicata
 
Spiked Lobelia

Flowers

Highway #10 and East Saltcoats Grid
15-July-2006

Note the pubescence at the base of the lower lip.  Note also how the stamen tube protrudes through a split in the upper side of the corolla tube.

Note that some taxonomists place the Lobelia genus in the Campanulaceae family.

 
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Spicata:  Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species.  
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plants terrestrial; NOT [plants aquatic, with leaves all submerged]

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plants of drier soils; NOT [plants of moist marshy places]

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stems leafy; NOT [leaves all basal]

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stem leaves lanceolate to oblanceolate to ovate, usually more than 10 mm wide; NOT [stem leaves linear, less than 10 mm wide]

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flowers in a spike-like raceme; NOT [flowers in a loose raceme, on lax pedicels]

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racemes many-flowered; NOT [racemes few-flowered]

 

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Lobelia: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus. 
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perennials; NOT annuals

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corolla-tube split to near the base on the upper side

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capsule 2-celled; NOT 1-celled

 
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Lobeliaceae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora leading to this family. 
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herbs

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plants green or with some chlorophyll; NOT [plants parasitic or saprophytic, without chlorophyll]

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plants often with milky juice; NOT [plants without milky juice]

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NOT climbing plants with tendrils

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leaves basal or alternate; NOT [leaves opposite]

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flowers NOT in heads, NOT in spikes

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flowers with two floral rings, but with the petals wholly or partly united forming a tube or bell

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corolla irregular, split down one side; NOT [corolla regular, bell-shaped]

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anthers united into a tube; NOT [anthers free]

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ovary inferior; NOT superior