Lobelia cardinalis
Family:
Campanulaceae
Common Name(s):
Cardinal flower
Flowering Time:
July to August
Fruit/Seed Maturation Sign:
Seeds turn rusty orange
Fruit/Seed Collection Dates:
Late September
Seed Cleaning:
Roll/press hypanthium through a fine screen to release seeds
Storage:
Dry
Restoration Potential:
High in moist habitats
Notes
Found along streams and other low moist areas (Runkel and Bull 2009).
Easy to grow from seed if soil is moist (Steyermark 1963); produces "great quantities" of seed; germination high if seeds have light (Cullina 2000).
Forms a basal rosette the first year and flowers in the second (Steyermark 1963). Fibrous root system developes offshoots giving rise to new plants (Runkel and Bull 2009).
