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Campanulaceae
Edging Lobelia
Lobelia erinus
Distinction, generous spirit, malevolence (historical).
- Family
- Campanulaceae
- Genus
- Lobelia
- Native to
- Southern Africa
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer, Fall
- Type
- Annual or tender perennial
- Height
- 10–25 cm
- Sunlight
- Full sun to part shade
- Soil
- Rich, moist, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate to high
- Hardiness
- Annual everywhere; perennial in 10–11
- Lifespan
- One season
Did you know
- Lobelia produces some of the truest, deepest blues in the plant world — a color almost impossible to capture in photographs.
- The genus is named for Matthias de l'Obel, a 16th-century Flemish botanist and personal physician to King James I.
- Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), a much taller red North American cousin, has flowers shaped specifically to be pollinated by ruffed-throat hummingbirds.
- Some Lobelia species contain lobeline, an alkaloid once used in nicotine substitutes and respiratory medicines.
- Trailing varieties cascade dramatically over hanging baskets, sending out waterfalls of cobalt or violet flowers all summer.
Color meanings
Blue
Dignity