Lobelia hypoleuca
| Lobelia hypoleuca | |
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| Species: | L. hypoleuca Hillebr.
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| Binomial name | |
| Lobelia hypoleuca | |
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Lobelia hypoleuca, common names kuhiʻaikamoʻowahie, `opelu, liua, or mo`owahie, is one of several species in the genus Lobelia endemic to Hawaii though cultivated elsewhere. It is found in nature on the islands of Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Maui and Hawaiʻi.[3][4]
Lobelia hypoleuca is a shrub that can attain a height of 3.3 m (11 feet). Stems are woody, whitish, with a rough texture. Leaves are narrowly lanceolate with teeth along the margins, up to 60 cm (2 feet) long, green and shiny above, but appearing white on the underside due to a dense covering of fine wooly hairs (hence the epithet "hypoleuca" meaning "white below"). The plant produces 3-7 tall flowering stalks, each up to 40 cm (16 inches)long. Flowers are blue.[4][5][6]
References
- ^ Tropicos
- ^ The Plant List
- ^ Lilleeng-Rosenberger, Kerin E. Growing Hawaii's Native Plants. Honolulu: Mutual publishing, 2005.
- ^ a b Flora of the Hawaiian Islands, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington
- ^ Starr Environmental Plants of Hawaii, Makawao HI
- ^ John Game, Flickr