science

Lobelia erinus

Lobelia erinus is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lobelia erinus rather than just read about it. In short: Lobelia erinus (edging lobelia, garden lobelia or trailing lobelia) is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae, native to southern Africa. Description It is a low growing, prostrate or scrambling herbaceous perennial plant growing to 8–15 cm tall.

Key takeaways

Lobelia erinus belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lobelia erinus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lobelia erinus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lobelia erinus (edging lobelia, garden lobelia or trailing lobelia) is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae, native to southern Africa.

Description It is a low growing, prostrate or scrambling herbaceous perennial plant growing to 8–15 cm tall. The basal leaves are oval, 10 mm long and 4–8 mm broad, with a toothed margin; leaves higher on the stems are slender and sometimes untoothed. The flowers are blue to violet in wild plants, with a five-lobed corolla 8–20 mm across; they are produced in loose panicles. About 0.5 to 4.5 inches long inflorescence stems are about 5 inches long, loose racemose inflorescences with many flowers. The hermaphrodite flower is zygomorphic with a length of up to 1 centimeter and quinate with double perianth. The five sepals are fused. The fan-shaped lower lip is trilobed. The color of the crown varies depending on the variety between white, blue, purple, pink or red and the center is yellow or white. The five stamens are 3 to 7 millimeters long. The fruit is a 5–8 mm capsule containing numerous small seeds.

Range The distribution area lies in southern Africa and extends from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe to the south to Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho and the South African provinces. L. erinus also occurs as a weed where it has escaped from cultivation.

Cultivation and uses Lobelia erinus is a very popular edging plant in gardens, especially for hanging baskets and window boxes. In temperate zones it is grown as a half-hardy annual, i.e. sown under glass with some heat in spring, then planted out when all danger of frost has passed. Alternatively plants can be purchased from garden centres as young "plug" plants, to be transferred outside in May or June.

Cultivars Numerous cultivars have been selected, either with a bushy or a trailing habit, in a wide range of flower colours, including white, pink, magenta ("red"), pale to dark blue, and purple, often with a prominent white eye. Some of the better known cultivars include 'Blue Moon', 'Gracilis', 'Crystal Palace', 'Sapphire', 'Rosamund' and 'Riviera Rose'. In the United Kingdom the following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

Gallery

References

Media related to Lobelia erinus at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lobelia erinus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lobelia erinus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lobelia erinus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lobelia erinus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lobelia erinus

In research: Lobelia erinus appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lobelia erinus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lobelia erinus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Annual plants, Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus, Flora of Malawi, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lobelia erinus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lobelia erinus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lobelia erinus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lobelia erinus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lobelia erinus in simple terms?

Lobelia erinus (edging lobelia, garden lobelia or trailing lobelia) is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae, native to southern Africa. Description It is a low growing, prostrate or scrambling herbaceous perennial plant growing to 8–15 cm tall.

Why does Lobelia erinus matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lobelia erinus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lobelia erinus.