Lobelia jasionoides flower

The tiny flowers of Lobelia jasionoides grow in massed heads comprising dense spikes. This Lobelia is one-lipped, unlike the many two-lipped species of the genus.

The lip comprises five, finger-like white lobes with variable lilac markings. On the plant in picture these markings are only transversal lines on the middle three lobes, erect blotches on the lateral ones. The markings may also be spots along the lobe surfaces arranged in variable patterns.

In the photo some pointed maroon sepal tips are visible lower down among the spreading corollas and pinkish, beak-like buds. An open flower is from 5 mm to 8 mm long.

Opposite the corolla lobes in the flower there is an erect column consisting of the cohering stamens. One of the five dark red sepals is just behind it. The black or bluish black column tip comprises the anthers, among which the style and stigma are also hiding for a period. Two of the four anthers have white hairs upon their tips.

Flowering happens from midspring through summer (Bean and Johns, 2005; Manning, 2007; www.plantzafrica.com).