Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

CARDINAL FLOWER

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Lobelia cardinalis L.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-5 feet

Family: Campanulaceae - Bellflower Family

Flowering Period: August, September

Stems:

Erect, mostly single, simple or rarely branched, leafy, glabrous.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, short-stalked below, sessile above, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 1 to 8 inches long, 1/4 to 2 inches wide, glabrous or rarely hairy; margins toothed; tips pointed; upper leaves reduced.

Inflorescences:

Racemes, many flowered, 4-28 inches long, terminal, each node 1-flowered.

Flowers:

5-lobed, bright red, 1 to 1.75 inch long; calyces bell-shaped, strongly ribbed, glabrous or sparsely bristly; 3 lower corolla lobes narrowly ovate to elliptic, bent downward and spreading; 2 upper corolla lobes erect, linear-lanceolate, slightly smaller than lower lobes; stamens 5, filaments red, anthers gray, united, forming straight or slightly curved tube around style.

Fruits:

Capsules, cup-shaped; seeds numerous, tiny, chestnut-brown.

Habitat:

Wet sites with partial sunlight, stream banks, marshy areas, and moist thickets.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Toxicity:

The leaves, stems, and fruits of cardinal flower can be poisonous to livestock.

Uses:

In the 1800s, lobelia species were used medicinally to treat nervous disorders, convulsions, asthma, and tetanus.

Blue lobelia is related to blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica).

Cardinal flower