Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
47. Campanulaceae, the Bellflower Family
2. Lovelia L. -- Lovelia3. Lobelia spicata Lam. -- Pale-spike lobelia
Erect perennial (1)2-6 dm tall, simple or sometimes branched, pubescent especially toward the base. Leaves obovate to spatulate and often short-petiolate below, becoming oblanceolate upward on the stem, 1.5-5(7) cm long, 5-18 mm wide, puberulent mainly above, rounded at the apex, obscurely crenate to irregularly serrate, narrowed or long-tapered to the base. Racemes many-flowered, rather dense and spikelike; pedicels mostly 1-4 mm long, minutely bracteolate at the base. Calyx lobes linear to linear-lanceolate, 2-6 mm long; corolla white to pale blue, marcescent, 4-8 mm long. Jul--Aug. Fresh wet meadows, low prairie, springs, seepage areas and boggy places; frequent from ne MT and n ND to n and e SD, less common and scattered elsewhere; (Que. and N.S. to Alta., s to GA, AR and KS).
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