Lobelia welwitschii Engl. & Diels ex Diels

Perennial, erect or ascending, rhizomatous herb, glabrous or very occasionally pubescent, 10–50 cm. tall.. Stems not or sparsely branched, angular, not or very narrowly winged.. Leaves up to 12 mm. long, 1–6 mm. wide, sparsely denticulate; upper leaves narrowly lanceolate, acute, ± erect; lower leaves lanceolate to elliptic or broadly ovate, sometimes obtuse, ± spreading.. Flowers in lax racemes; pedicels up to 30 mm. long; bracts similar to upper stem leaves; bracteoles ± 1 mm. long, linear, on lower half of the pedicel.. Hypanthium obconical to obovoid, ± 10-nerved.. Calyx-lobes narrow, often subulate, erect, 2.5–6 mm. long, with 1–2 pairs of teeth at the margin.. Corolla 6.5–10.5 mm. long, blue or rarely white, with 2 bumps in the mouth of the tube, split to ± 0.4 mm. from the base on the back, shortly pubescent inside at the bottom of the tube.. Filaments pubescent at the base, connate for most of their length, attached to the corolla-tube at the base.. Anther-tube 1.5–2 mm. long, shortly pubescent on the back of the upper thecae or glabrous; 2 lower anthers each with a tuft of hairs and a hyaline appendage at the apex.. Ovary subinferior.. Capsule ± 10-nerved, with 2 valves ± 1 mm. long, inferior part of capsule 4–7 mm. long.. Seeds elliptic-oblong in outline, somewhat compressed, 0.4–0.5 mm. long, almost smooth, brown.. Fig. 2.