Botanical art
Prior names
Lobelia alata
Etymology
Lobelia, named after Mathias de Lobel (1538-1616), physician to William of Orange and then botanist to James I of England. Anceps from the Latin 'anceps', meaning two-edged, referring to the two-lipped character of the flowers.
Distribution and status
Found in the southern part of South Australia, from the Flinders Ranges to the lower South-east growing in sheltered damp sites, in seepage areas on coastal cliffs, along watercourses and margins of swamps. Also found in Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Decumbent to ascending, glabrous perennial herb; rooting at nodes, with upper stems usually narrowly winged, often maroon-tinged. Leaves oblanceolate or obovate-spathulate to linear-elliptic, to 85 mm long and 20 mm wide; toothed or some entire, reducing toward inflorescence. Flowers bisexual, in terminal spike with light blue to violet (rarely almost white) flowers; 2 petals above and 3 below. Flowering between November and April. Fruits are brown cylindrical to conical capsule, slightly compressed, to 15 mm long. Seeds are orange to brown, slightly compressed, elliptical seed to 0.4 mm long and 0.3 mm wide; surface smooth or very faintly striated. Seed embryo type is linear, under-developed.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between December and May. Collect mature capsules that are fat, turning a pale straw-colour and containing brown seeds. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one week. Then rub the capsules gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Be careful as the seeds are very small. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%.
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BGA MSB | 32,500 (0.48 g) 32,500 (0.48 g) | 50+ | 31-Jan-2006 | HPV2950 South Eastern | 28-Jul-2006 | 100% | -18°C |