Boykin's Lobelia

Lobelia boykinii T. &G.; A.DC. in DC. Prodr. 7: 374. 1839
Dorlmannia Boykinii Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 972. 1891.
Aquatic, the lower part of the stem immersed; stem erect, slender, 1-3 mm. in diameter at base, simple or with spreading racemose branches above, glabrous, green, fistulose, 50-85 cm. high; leaves cauline, filiform, glabrous, 0.5-2.5 cm. long, few-50 or more, often deciduous, entire or obscurely callose-denticulate, the upper merging gradually into the bracts of the inflorescence; inflorescence more or less secund, 7-20 cm. long, 10-25-flowered; pedicels slender, glabrous, loosely spreading, (6) 10-17 mm. long in fruit; bracteoles none; flower-bracts glabrous, filiform, much shorter than the pedicels, 2-8 mm. long; flower 10-13 mm. long, including hypanthium; corolla pale blue, with a white eye, glabrous, or pubescent within, the lower lip smooth or pubescent at base, the tube 4-5 mm. long, entire except for the dorsal fissure, the lobes of the lower lip oblong, short-acute, shorter than the tube, the two upper lobes longhnear, nearly as long as the tube or shorter, erect; filament-tube 3.5-5 mm. long, deflexed, glabrous, the filaments coimate about two-thirds of their length; anther-tube 1.5-1.8 mm. long, bluish-gray, the two smaller anthers sparsely white-tufted at the tips, the three larger pubescent on the backs; hypanthium in anthesis very small, subglobose or appearing flattish because of the spreading calyx-lobes, glabrous, becoming hemispheric in fruit, about 3 mm. in diameter; capsule about half inferior, somewhat longer than broad, 2.5-3.5 mm. long; calyxlobes spreading, filiform, 3-4.5 mm. long, entire, glabrous; auricles none; seeds ovoid, darkbrown, 0.4-0.6 mm. long.
Type locality: Georgia or Florida ("in paludibus Georgiae et Floridae"), Boykin (herb. DC, photo!), Chapman.
Distrlbution: Coastal Plain, western Florida to southern Delaware.

Lobelia boykinii is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family known by the common name Boykin's lobelia. It is native to the eastern United States, where it occurs from Delaware to Florida. There is also a disjunct occurrence in New Hampshire.

This rhizomatous perennial herb produces a hollow stem up to 85 centimeters tall. The plant is semi-aquatic, often growing in water for part of the year. The needle-like leaves are alternately arranged. The flowers are blue or white. They are pollinated by insects, especially bees. Flowering is also affected by the water level.

This plant grows in cypress swamps and other wet habitat types, such as meadows, bays, and ponds.

A number of insect species have been observed visiting the plant, including Ceratina dupla, Augochlorella striata, Hylaeus confluens, Hylaeus modestus, Hoplitis truncata, Melissodes communis, and Geron holosericeus.