Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Lobelia erinus

Family

Campanulaceae

Flowering season

June to September - longer in mild winters in the South and

the Southwest.

English distribution

It is scattered throughout the country but is most common in

the Midlands and the South and least common in the North.

For a map see the National Biodiversity Network Gateway

- Garden Lobelia

The garden plant is found throughout the country.

Habitat

It is a neophyte, which was introduced into England in the 1750s

and first noted in the wild in the 1910s.

It grows in waste places and in the cracks of pavements and

at the base of walls.

It varies from being a casual to fully naturalised. I have seen it

growing in the same place at the base of a wall over 5 years.

Description

Garden Lobelia is a non-native, sprawling, annual, biennial or

perennial herb, growing up to 20cm.

The flowers are made up of a corolla tube with 5 lobes – 3 are

larger and lip-like and 2 are small and rabbit-ear-like.

It is usually blue, especially those growing in the wild, but

cultivated flowers range from various shades of blue, purple,

red and white.

The sepals are pointed and spreading.

Bracts are small and leaf-like.

Lower leaves are lanceolate to oval and toothed.

Upper leaves are lanceolate to linear..

Stems are erect to sprawling.