Lobelia pinifolia

Lobelia pinifolia is a slender, erect shrublet, somewhat untidy and growing to heights from 20 cm to 50 cm.

The small, hairy flowers grow in racemes comprising three to ten flowers. Three prominent lobes form the lower lip of the corolla. The upper lip is small, consisting of two erect, narrow and sharply pointed lobes. The flower colour is blue, but purple pink and white ones are also seen. The male flower parts mature first, avoiding self-pollination. Flowering happens in summer to mid-autumn.

The fruit is an ovoid capsule.

The species distribution is in the southwest of the Western Cape, from Ceres to the Cape Peninsula and coastally to around Riversdale.

The habitat is rocky, sandstone flats and lower slopes in fynbos. The habitat population is deemed of least concern in the twenty first century.

The roots of L. pinifolia have been used in traditional medicine (Manning, 2009; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).