Lobelia dortmanna

Water Lobelia (Lobelia dortmanna ): zygomorphe flowering in inflorescence.

The water lobelia (Lobelia dortmanna ) is a plant that belongs to the genus Lobelia (Lobelia ) in the family of the bellflower family ( Campanulaceae ). This plant has lost numerous previously known sites by hydroelectric engineering in the 20th century. The plant may contain the poisonous alkaloid lobeline.

Description

Habitus and sheets

The Water Lobelia is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches the plant height of 40 to 70 cm ( up to 200 cm). In this hemicryptophytes is a water plant ( hydrophyte ), whose leaves grow submerged, the inflorescence is but above the water level. The roots anchor the plant in the river bottom. The submerged, undergraduate in a rosette leaves are entire, linear, obtuse, thickish and are up to 8 cm long. The leaf margins turn often together and the result is a " röhriges sheet". In the hollow, smooth stems have few alternate between high, thin, tiny leaves, especially in the field of flowers.

Inflorescence, flowers and fruit

The racemose inflorescence is two to eight ( or twelve ) - flowered. The zygomorphe, fivefold flower is 1-2 cm long. The five green sepals are fused Roehrig. The five pale blue or white petals are fused Roehrig. The tubed in the lower part of the crown is two-lipped with a two-lobed upper lip and a three-lobed lower lip. The five stamens are fused. The flowers are pollinated by insects and are protandrisch.

The bicompartmental capsule fruit has a length of 5 to 10 mm and a diameter of 3 to 5 mm and contains a lot of tiny (less than 1 mm) seeds.

Location

This type has areas in northern North America and northwestern Europe.

The water - lobelia grows in moderately acidic, nutrient-poor, stagnant waters. It settles flat shore at depths up to 30 cm. At its sites this Hemikryptophyt is mostly present in individual- rich stocks. She is a half-light plant, a default heat and water exchange pointers. It is regarded as Verbandscharakterart the lobelia companies ( Lobelion ).

It is one of Germany's most endangered species and is strictly protected under the federal Species Protection Regulation ( BArtSchV ).

Swell

• Characteristics from the Washington State Department of Ecology. (English )
• Lobelia dortmanna. In: FloraWeb.de.