Kalm's Lobelia (Brook Lobelia)

Lobelia kalmii

• Family: Bellflower (Campanulaceae)
• Habitat: bogs, shores, wet meadows
• Height: 4-16 inches
• Flower size: 1/2 inch across
• Flower color: blue and white
• Flowering time: July to October
• Origin: native

Features
Kalm’s (brook) lobelia is a biennnial herb that grows up to 20 inches tall. It has basal leaves that are up to eight-tenths of an inch long and one-eighth of an inch wide. The leaves on the stem are mostly linear and are up to two inches long and one half inch wide. The flowers are pale to dark blue with a white center and up to four-tenths of an inch long. Each plant has two to twelve flowers. Fruits are capsules with small brown seeds.
Natural History
Kalm’s lobelia grows in fens. It flowers from August through early October. Kalm’s lobelia is named after Peter Kalm, who came to North America in the 1700’s and collected plants for his teacher, Carolus Linnaeus. Linnaeus was from Sweden and is considered the father of plant taxonomy, the study of plant classification.
Photographed in Ste. Rita, Manitoba, Canada

Canon EOS 50D; 17-85mm lens