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Resources < Wildlife Habitats < Native Plants < Native Plant Database < Lobelia cardinalis
A wildflower poll was taken in the 1940’s to determine the top ten favorites of naturalists and botanists across the country. The run-away favorite for most interesting and showy native plant was the cardinal flower. Roger Tory Person described this beautiful flower as “America’s favorite” in his Field Guide to Wildflowers. The shape of each flower and the intense scarlet color makes the raceme of blooms irresistible to ruby-throated hummingbirds. Each long tubular flower has a pool of nectar at its base. Pistils and stamens project from the mouth of flower tubes, touching the head of the visiting pollinator.
A native of the United States and Canada, specimens of cardinal flower were sent to England in the 17th century to enhance gardens there. Rapidly it became a popular addition to gardens of wealthy Europeans who collected exotic flowers from the new world. Cardinal flower is a short lived perennial which depends on its seeds to survive. Habitat loss and thoughtless picking can spell disaster for this beautiful plant in the wild.
Campanulaceae (Bellflower Family)
An herbaceous perennial with a smooth, upright stem without branches. Leaves on the stem are alternate, simple, elliptical to lanceolate, and toothed. They taper to a petiole and may be up to 2” wide and 7” long. Before and after flowering the plant has a rosette of basal leaves. The upright plant has a showy red raceme with 1 to 2 inch flowers that are perfect, bilaterally symmetric, and have leafy bracts. The corolla has 2 lips. The upper lip has 2 short lobes and the lower lip has 3 lobes. Five stamens cluster around the style which extends from the flower opening.
2 to 4 feet high.
Erect; clump-forming.
Moderate.
Morning or filtered sunlight.
Prefers rich, moist soil with pH of 5.5 to 7. Each plant is short-lived. Let it self-sow and transplant seedlings in the fall or early spring, remembering to give them sufficient moisture. Instead of removing plants from the wild, collect seeds or buy seedlings, rootstock or plants from reputable dealers.
Pure red flowers add their brilliance to summer and early fall gardens. Since there is only 1 bloom per stalk, the plants are more striking if several plants are clustered together.
Plants grow taller in rich, moist soil. Position them near ponds, streams, or bogs to duplicate the locations where the plants grow best in the wild.
Hummingbirds are attracted to the bright red flowers. Bees and butterflies also pollinate these flowers, which bloom between July and October.
Plants thrive in forests and meadows on flood plains, in swamps and bogs, and beside streams and rivers throughout Georgia.
Seeds; root division; cuttings; or layering.
Text and photo by Rosalie Jensen.
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Cardinal Flower
