Lobelia anceps flower

The blue, mauve or white flowers of Lobelia anceps grow in racemes from leaf axils. The two-lipped flower becomes about 1 cm long, its corolla said to be hairless.

Seen here from the side, the short, pointed sepals veering away from the corolla are hairy and purplish in colour. The upper lip is small, two-lobed and split down the middle. Its lower parts are purple, the two lobes at the tip blue.

The lower lip is three-lobed; dark blue patches are visible here in the channelled base parts of the lobes. The lobes are about oblong with tiny pointed tips on their rounded upper parts. They fold in slightly along their midribs. In the photo these lobes don’t appear to be quite hairless.

Flowering happens from late spring to midwinter (Manning, 2007; Pooley, 1998).