Great blue lobelia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Great blue lobelia |
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| Genus: |
Lobelia
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| Species: |
siphilitica
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The Great Blue Lobelia (scientific name: Lobelia siphilitica) is a beautiful plant. It's also known as the great lobelia or blue cardinal flower. This plant belongs to the Campanulaceae family, which includes many flowering plants. It's a "herbaceous" plant, meaning it has soft stems, not woody ones like trees. It's also a "perennial," so it lives for more than two years, coming back each spring. This plant is a dicot, which means its seeds have two tiny leaves. You can find it naturally in eastern and central Canada and the United States.
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What is the Great Blue Lobelia?
The Great Blue Lobelia is a striking plant known for its bright blue flowers. It can grow up to three feet (about 90 cm) tall. The flowers grow in a tall spike and have a unique shape, which scientists call "zygomorphic." This means the flowers can only be divided into two equal halves in one way, like a human face.
Where Does the Great Blue Lobelia Grow?
This plant loves to live in places with moist or wet soil. You can often find it near streams, in damp meadows, or along the edges of ponds. It grows well in areas that get plenty of sunlight or partial shade. The Great Blue Lobelia is found across a wide range of climates, from plant hardiness zones 4 to 9. This means it can handle cold winters and warm summers in many parts of North America.
Life Cycle of the Great Blue Lobelia
The Great Blue Lobelia is a "short-lived perennial." This means that while it comes back each year, individual plants usually live for only a few years. It blooms later in the summer and into the fall. You can see its beautiful blue flowers from August all the way through October. After blooming, the plant produces seeds, which help new plants grow.
How Does the Great Blue Lobelia Reproduce?
Even though a single Great Blue Lobelia flower has both male and female parts, it can't pollinate itself. This means it needs help from insects to make seeds. Bees are very important for this plant's reproduction. Specifically, large bees, like those in the Bombus genus (bumblebees), are the main pollinators. They visit the flowers to collect nectar and pollen, and in doing so, they carry pollen from one flower to another, helping the plant create new seeds.
